The Coulomb force is conservative, so a potential energy is associated with it. The electrical potential difference due to any charge distribution between points a and b is defined as the change in potential energy divided by the magnitude of a test charge. This program is used as a class assignment in Physics 2322 and described in more detail there . The computer program is based on material from Matlab Projects for Scientists and Engineers , by A.L. Garcia and M.C. Penland , and used with the authors' permission.
All distances are in measured in meters and charges in nanoCoulombs.
Run your program for the cases given in exercise 1 above. Click here to search the UALR Ottenheimer Library for a book or document.