Because we know that electric fields add through superposition, we can treat each of the charges separately, find the electric field, then add the fields together at P at the end. We can begin with the electric field due to the segment along the y-axis. We start by finding dQ and →r. The charge is uniformly distributed so we have a simple line charge density of λ=Q/L. The segment extends in the y-direction, so we have dl=dy. This gives us dQ:dQ=λdl=QdyL
Because we know that electric fields add through superposition, we can treat each of the charges separately, find the electric field, then add the fields together at P at the end. We can begin with the electric field due to the segment along the y-axis. We start by finding dQ and →r. The charge is uniformly distributed so we have a simple line charge density of λ=Q/L. The segment extends in the y-direction, so we have dl=dy. This gives us dQ:dQ=λdl=QdyL
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<WRAP TIP>
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===Assumption===
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The charge is evenly distributed along each segment of charge. This allows each little piece of charge to have the same value along each line.
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</WRAP>
{{ 184_notes:4_two_segments_pos_dq.png?450 |dQ for Segment on y-axis}}
{{ 184_notes:4_two_segments_pos_dq.png?450 |dQ for Segment on y-axis}}