An incorrect universe

In one imaginary universe two charges q 1 q_1 and q 2 q_2 , both of mass 1 g, obey the following inverse cube law instead of Coulomb's law

F = k e q 1 q 2 r 21 3 r 21 ^ \large{ \vec{F} = k_e\frac{q_1q_2 }{|r_{21}|^3} } \hat{r_{21}}

In this universe, the two charges q 1 = 1 μ C q_1 = 1\mu C and q 2 = 1 μ C q_2=-1\mu C are placed at 1 -1 m and 1 1 m on the x-axis, respectively. The charges are released from rest at t = 0 t=0 . Find the time τ \tau in seconds at which they collide.

Assumptions and Details

  • K e = 9 × 1 0 9 m 2 F K_e = 9\times10^9 \frac{m^2}{F}


The answer is 0.942.

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2 solutions

Michael Ng
Sep 18, 2015

This is my approach to this nice problem. Here is a simple diagram.

Consider only the force exerted on the right particle. It is easy to see that F = k e q 1 q 2 r 3 F = - k_e\frac{q_1q_2}{r^3} as F F is directed towards the origin. Let K = k e q 1 q 2 m K= k_e\frac{q_1q_2}{m} for clarity. Therefore as F = m a F=ma , a = K r 3 a = - \frac{K}{r^3} But what is the value of r r in our problem? By symmetry the motion of the particles must exactly mirror eachother, so it follows that r = 2 x r = 2x . So a = K ( 2 x ) 3 = K 8 x 3 a = -\frac{K}{(2x)^3} = -\frac{K}{8x^3} It is well known that a d x = 1 2 v 2 \int a \, \mathrm{d}x = \frac{1}{2}v^2 , so 1 2 v 2 = K 8 x 3 d x = K 16 x 2 + c \frac{1}{2}v^2 = \int -\frac{K}{8x^3} \, \mathrm{d}x = \frac{K}{16x^2} + c Substitute x = 1 , v = 0 \boxed{x=1, v=0} into the equation and solve to give c = K 16 c = -\frac{K}{16} . Therefore 1 2 v 2 = K 16 ( 1 x 2 1 ) v = K 8 ( 1 x 2 x 2 ) \frac{1}{2}v^2 = \frac{K}{16}\left(\frac{1}{x^2}-1\right) \\ v=-\sqrt{\frac{K}{8}\left(\frac{1-x^2}{x^2}\right)} Note the minus as the velocity is directed towards the origin. Now solve the differential equation: x 1 x 2 d x = K 8 d t 1 x 2 + C = K 8 t \int - \frac{x}{\sqrt{1-x^2}} \, \mathrm{d}x = \int \sqrt{\frac{K}{8}} \, \mathrm{d}t\\ \sqrt{1-x^2} + C = \sqrt{\frac{K}{8}}t

Substitute t = 0 , x = 1 \boxed{t=0,x=1} into the equation and solve to give C = 0 C = 0 .

Therefore 1 x 2 = K 8 t \sqrt{1-x^2}= \sqrt{\frac{K}{8}}t and at x = 0 x=0 , t = 8 K \boxed{t = \sqrt{\frac{8}{K}}} .

Plugging in the variables gives t = 8 ( ( 9 × 1 0 9 ) × ( 1 × 1 0 6 ) × ( 1 × 1 0 6 ) 1 × 1 0 3 ) = 8 9 = 0.9428 = 0.943 t = \sqrt{\frac{8}{\left(\frac{(9\times10^9) \times (1\times10^{-6}) \times (1\times10^{-6})}{1\times10^{-3}}\right)}} = \sqrt{\frac{8}{9}} = 0.9428\dots = \boxed{0.943}

Nice solution! I got a much harder differential equation and used Mr. Grapher to help me solve. Pretty much bashed the thing.

Julian Poon - 5 years, 6 months ago

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Thank you! It took a long time to both find and write up :)

Michael Ng - 5 years, 6 months ago
Thaddeus Abiy
Aug 28, 2015

I solved this numerically via Euler's algorithm. I am curious to know how this can be done analytically.

Python 2.7

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from math import *

def dist(a,b):
    #Distance between the two vectors a and b
    x1,y1,x2,y2=a.real,a.imag,b.real,b.imag
    return sqrt((x1-x2)**2 + (y1-y2)**2)

def vect(a,b):
    #Finds the unit vector between a and b
    x1,y1,x2,y2=a.real,a.imag,b.real,b.imag
    top = (x2-x1) + (y2-y1)*1j
    return top/dist(a,b)



class charge:
    '''Represents a charge'''
    def __init__(self,q,a,v,pos):
        self.q = q
        self.a = a
        self.v = v
        self.pos = pos

    def step(self,dt):
        self.v = self.v + self.a * dt
        self.pos = self.pos + self.v * dt   


def coloumb( q1 , q2 , dt , k = 9e9, m = 1e-3):
    '''Simulates the coulomb interaction'''
    K = ((q1.q*q2.q)*(k/m))/(dist(q1.pos,q2.pos)**3)
    q1.a = K*vect(q2.pos,q1.pos)
    q2.a = K*vect(q1.pos,q2.pos)
    q1.step(dt)
    q2.step(dt)




k = 9e9
m = 1e-3
proton = charge(1e-6,0+0j,0+0j,-1+0j)
electron = charge(-1e-6,0+0j,0+0j,1+0j)
dt = 0.00001
t=0
last = 'inf'
while True:
    coloumb(proton,electron,dt)
    s = dist(proton.pos,electron.pos)
    if s > last:
        print t
        break
    else:
        last = s
    t+=dt

Moderator note:

This is quite the effort!

A straightforward way is to obtain the equations of motion. We can easily write down the Lagrangian of the system as

L = 1 2 m 1 v 1 2 + 1 2 m 2 v 2 2 k q 1 q 2 ( x 1 + x 2 ) 2 L = \frac12 m_1v_1^2 + \frac12 m_2v_2^2 - k\frac{q_1q_2}{\left(x_1+x_2\right)^2}

where x 1 x_1 and x 2 x_2 are measured from the initial midpoint between the two particles.

We can obviously simplify this by realizing d = x 1 + x 2 d=x_1+x_2 and v 1 = v 2 = d ˙ / 2 v_1=v_2=\dot{d}/2 , which then yields a single equation in d d which can be integrated directly.

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