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Question
A man fixes outside his house one evening a two metre high insulating slab carrying on its top a large aluminium sheet of area 1 m2. Will he get an electric shock if he touches the metal sheet next morning?
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Solution
Yes, the man will get an electric shock if he touches the metal slab next morning. The steady discharging current in the atmosphere charges up the aluminium sheet. As a result, its voltage rises gradually. The rise in the voltage depends on the capacitance of the capacitor formed by the aluminium slab and the ground.
RELATED QUESTIONS
Draw a sketch of equipotential surfaces due to a single charge (-q), depicting the electric field lines due to the charge
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Draw the equipotential surfaces due to an electric dipole.
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Consider the following statements and select the correct statement(s).
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Equipotential surfaces ______.
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- must be defined as `- int_A^B E.dl`
- is zero.
- can have a non-zero value.
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