Electrical power is transmitted to our homes by overhead wires strung between poles. A typical residential utility line has a maximum potential of 22 kV relative to ground. We can treat this potential as constant and model it as generated by a net charge distributed on the wire. (a) Estimate the height of an electrical transmission line. (b) Treat the electrical wire as a long conducting cylinder with a radius of 2 cm. If the potential between the surface of the wire and a position directly beneath the wire is 22 kV, what is the linear charge density on the wire? (c) Use your estimate of the linear charge density to estimate the strength of the electric field on the ground beneath the wire.
Electrical power is transmitted to our homes by overhead wires strung between poles. A typical residential utility line has a maximum potential of 22 kV relative to ground. We can treat this potential as constant and model it as generated by a net charge distributed on the wire. (a) Estimate the height of an electrical transmission line. (b) Treat the electrical wire as a long conducting cylinder with a radius of 2 cm. If the potential between the surface of the wire and a position directly beneath the wire is 22 kV, what is the linear charge density on the wire? (c) Use your estimate of the linear charge density to estimate the strength of the electric field on the ground beneath the wire.
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