ERIC Number: EJ1366210
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2022-Nov
Pages: 4
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: ISSN-0031-921X
EISSN: EISSN-1943-4928
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An Angular Method to Calculate the Electric Field of a Long Cylindrical Shell
Zuo, Fulin
Physics Teacher, v60 n8 p670-673 Nov 2022
The electric field inside a uniformly charged long cylindrical shell is a standard example discussed in introductory university physics. The field is zero inside the cylinder; outside of the cylinder, the field behaves like a long wire at the center carrying the same amount of charge per unit length, analogous to that of a uniformly charged spherical shell, typically referred to as Newton's shell theorem. It is usually proven with the use of Gauss's law and cylindrical symmetry of the electric field. A more direct proof by integration is lacking at this level. In fact, students often have difficulties visualizing intuitively why the field at off-center points is cancelled out completely and behaves like a line charge at the center on the outside.
American Association of Physics Teachers. One Physics Ellipse, College Park, MD 20740. Tel: 301-209-3300; Fax: 301-209-0845; e-mail: pubs@aapt.org; Web site: http://aapt.scitation.org/journal/pte
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: Higher Education; Postsecondary Education
Audience: N/A
Language: English
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