Question

Figure shows tracks of three charged particles in a uniform electrostatic field. Give the signs of the three charges. Which particle has the highest charge to mass ratio?

Answer 1

We know that a positively charged particle is attracted towards the negatively charged plate and a negatively charged particle is attracted towards the positively charged plate.
Here, particle 1 and particle 2 are attracted towards positive plate that means particle 1 and particle 2 are negatively charged. Particle 3 is attracted towards negatively charged plate so it is positively charged. As the deflection in the path of a charged particle is directly proportional to the charge/mass ratio.
`y prop q/m`
Here, the deflection in particle 3 is maximum, so the charge to mass ratio of particle 3 is maximum.