A Van de Graaff accelerator is essentially a parallel plate capacitor. Such a machine is changed by an electrical potential of 2.5 x 10^6 volts. The "plates" are 1.4 meters apart. Alpha particles (helium nuclei of charge +2e) are released from the positive charged side of the capacitor with an initial velocity of 0 m/s.
1. What is the electric field in the region between the "plates"?
2. What is the energy density stored in the field?
3. What electric force acts on alpha particle and what is the associated acceleration (ignoring gravity)?
4. What are the kinetic energy and velocity of the alpha particle when it reaches the other plate?