Join thousands of students who trust us to help them ace their exams!Watch the first video
Multiple Choice
A light bulb emits light uniformly in all directions. What is the electric field amplitude away from the light bulb?
A
B
C
D
E
F
Verified step by step guidance
1
Understand that the power of the light bulb is given as 50 W, and it emits light uniformly in all directions, which means it can be treated as a point source radiating spherically.
Recall that the intensity (I) of the light at a distance (r) from a point source is given by the formula: I = P / (4πr²), where P is the power of the source.
Substitute the given values into the intensity formula: P = 50 W and r = 0.1 m (since 10 cm = 0.1 m). Calculate the intensity at this distance.
The intensity is related to the electric field amplitude (E) by the formula: I = (1/2)ε₀cE², where ε₀ is the permittivity of free space and c is the speed of light. Rearrange this formula to solve for E.
Substitute the calculated intensity and known constants (ε₀ and c) into the rearranged formula to find the electric field amplitude E at 10 cm from the light bulb.