. An electron is released from its surface.
Consider a uniformly positively charged non conducting sphere of volume charge densityConsidering that the amplitude of the oscillations is less than the sphere's radius, find the time period of its periodic motion (in microseconds).
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Consider that the electron is x distance away from the sphere.
Now consider a spherical Gaussian surface of radius x .
Applying Gauss's law, we have
ϕ = ϵ 0 q e n c l o s e d
∫ E ⋅ d A = ϵ 0 q e n c l o s e d
E ⋅ 4 π x 2 = ϵ 0 3 4 π x 3 ⋅ ρ
So, the electric field E = 3 ϵ 0 ρ x
Hence, the force on the electron when it is x distance away from the center of the sphere
= − e ⋅ E = 3 ϵ 0 − e ρ x
Now, F = m a .
So,
a = m F = 3 ϵ 0 m e − e ρ x
Hence, the electron's motion is simple harmonic.
Comparing a = − ω 2 x and a = 3 ϵ 0 m e − e ρ x ,
ω = 3 ϵ 0 m e e ρ
T = ω 2 π = 2 π e ρ 3 ϵ 0 m e
Substituting the values
m e = 9 . 1 × 1 0 − 3 1 k g
ϵ 0 = 8 . 8 5 × 1 0 − 1 2 m F
e (charge on electron) = 1 . 6 × 1 0 − 1 9 C
And ρ = 2 × 1 0 − 7 m 3 C ,
We get T = 0 . 1 6 9 μ s