A grounded metallic sphere oscillating!

In the figure, a solid metallic grounded sphere of mass m m and radius R R is suspended from a ceiling as shown. The length of string is L L and the distance between ceiling and floor is 2 L 2L . At the floor, directly below the point of suspension is a fixed point charge q q .

Find the time period of small oscillations in the vertical plane of the sphere in seconds

Details and assumptions:

1) The sphere is grounded by means of a long slack wire that doesn't interrupt its motion

2) m = 1 K g m = 1 Kg

3) g = 9.8 m / s 2 g = 9.8 m/s^2

4) L = 50 cm L = 50 \text{cm}

5) R = 25 cm R = 25 \text{cm}

6) q = 10 μ C q = 10 \mu C

7) k = 1 4 π ϵ 0 = 9 × 1 0 9 N m 2 / C 2 k = \frac{1}{4 \pi \epsilon_{0}} = 9 \times 10^9 N m^2/C^2


The answer is 1.158.

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1 solution

Anish Puthuraya
Feb 25, 2014

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Let us displace the sphere by an angle θ \displaystyle \theta

Note that when the displacement is small, the distance of the center of the sphere from the point charge q \displaystyle q is almost L \displaystyle L

Now,
The trick here is to use Method of Images to find the induced charge on the grounded sphere.
It is pretty straightforward to prove that the induced charge has a magnitude of Q = R L q \displaystyle Q = -\frac{R}{L}q and is located at a distance d = R 2 L \displaystyle d = \frac{R^2}{L} from the center of the sphere.

Thus,
The Force of attraction between the grounded sphere and q \displaystyle q is along the line joining the center and q \displaystyle q .

F = k q Q ( L d ) 2 F = \frac{kqQ}{\left(L-d\right)^2}

F = k q ( R L q ) ( L R 2 L ) 2 F = \frac{kq\left(\frac{R}{L}q\right)}{\left(L-\frac{R^2}{L}\right)^2}

Considering the torque about the suspension point, (also use sin θ θ \displaystyle \sin\theta \approx\theta )

τ n e t = F ( 2 θ ) L + m g ( θ ) L \tau_{net} = F(2\theta)L+mg(\theta)L

Also, the moment of Inertia about the suspension point is,

I n e t = m L 2 + 2 5 m R 2 I_{net} = mL^2+ \frac{2}{5}mR^2

Hence, using τ = I α \displaystyle \tau = I\alpha , we get,

( 2 k q 2 R L ( L 2 R 2 ) 2 + m g ) θ = ( m L 2 + 2 5 m R 2 ) α \left(\frac{2kq^2RL}{(L^2-R^2)^2}+mg\right)\theta = \left(mL^2+\frac{2}{5}mR^2\right)\alpha

Substituting the values, we get,

α = ( 29.4545 ) θ \alpha = (29.4545)\theta

Since α = w 2 θ \displaystyle\alpha = w^2\theta , we get,

w = 29.4545 w = \sqrt{29.4545}

Therefore, the Time Period of small oscillations is,

T = 2 π w = 2 π 29.4545 1.158 s e c T = \frac{2\pi}{w} = \frac{2\pi}{\sqrt{29.4545}} \approx \boxed{1.158sec}

Very interesting problem :)

Karthik Kannan - 7 years, 3 months ago

Nice solution Anish! :)

I did not go by the torque approach as I was not sure if it would be correct to place the force vector on the centre of sphere. I instead solved it by energy.

Pranav Arora - 7 years, 3 months ago

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It would have been correct, because of symmetry. Nice solution, +1

jatin yadav - 7 years, 3 months ago

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Btw, the problem didn't mention whether the sphere could rotate about its axis or not...I just tried both ways.

Anish Puthuraya - 7 years, 3 months ago

I would love to know how did you implement electrostatic energy in the equation. Can you post the method please??

Sudeep Salgia - 7 years, 3 months ago

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Well, It is pretty similar to the Torque method. Considering the same diagram, let us determine the Potential Energy of the Sphere (taking the bottom-end of the equilibrium position as reference)

Note: We will approximate the angles later, so we keep the trigonometric ratios as it is.

U = k q 2 ( R L sec θ ) L sec θ R 2 L sec θ + m g L ( 1 cos θ ) U = -\frac{kq^2(\frac{R}{L\sec\theta})}{L\sec\theta-\frac{R^2}{L\sec\theta}} + mgL(1-\cos\theta)

Now,
d U d θ = τ n e t \frac{dU}{d\theta} = \tau_{net}

Differentiating the Energy equation,

d U d θ = k q 2 R ( L 2 sec 2 θ R 2 ) 2 ( 2 L 2 sec 2 θ tan θ ) + m g L sin θ \frac{dU}{d\theta} = \frac{kq^2R}{(L^2\sec^2\theta-R^2)^2}\left(2L^2\sec^2\theta\tan\theta\right) + mgL\sin\theta

Approximating,
sec θ 1 \sec\theta\approx 1 tan θ sin θ θ \tan\theta\approx\sin\theta\approx\theta

We get,

τ n e t = ( 2 k q 2 R L ( L 2 R 2 ) 2 + m g ) L θ \tau_{net} = (\frac{2kq^2RL}{(L^2-R^2)^2} + mg)L\theta

Proceeding now by equating this to I α \displaystyle I\alpha , we can solve the problem.

Anish Puthuraya - 7 years, 3 months ago

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@Anish Puthuraya That's almost what I did but mind you that the potential energy of Coulombic attraction is just the half of what you wrote. Look here for the explanation: http://physicspages.com/2011/12/12/method-of-images-point-charge-and-sphere/

This is present in Griffiths, not sure about the Purcell though.

Pranav Arora - 7 years, 3 months ago

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@Pranav Arora Yes this is why I was a bit unsure of the energy method. But, thanks Anish and Pranav for your replies.

Sudeep Salgia - 7 years, 3 months ago

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@Sudeep Salgia Your welcome. :)

Pranav Arora - 7 years, 3 months ago

small typing mistake while taking torques multiplication by L

Milun Moghe - 7 years, 3 months ago

On a side note, can you please post a solution to this: Pulling a long molecule

Thanks!

Pranav Arora - 7 years, 3 months ago

Nice solution. I did it almost the same way but messed up in the 2 θ \theta part arriving it in a rather complicated manner.

Sudeep Salgia - 7 years, 3 months ago

did we find the value of Q by finding potential due to all at the sphere surface and then equating it to 0 (as it is grounded at that point)? If so, I am having a different answer.

Pinak Wadikar - 7 years, 1 month ago

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Rest, method is same. I also appreciate the problem :)

Pinak Wadikar - 7 years, 1 month ago

Could you explain how to find inducted charge. I know the fact that potential is same for all points on sphere, but i get hard equation systems by just using that.

Svetlana Đukanović - 6 years, 1 month ago

Ya exactly this was the most apparent way of solving it.I too did it in the same way.We should be happy.intact this was one of the problems in IPHO 2009-10(most probably).

Spandan Senapati - 4 years, 3 months ago

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