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Homework Statement
A conducting sphere of radius R carries a total charge of +Q. Its center is placed a distance 2R to the right of a grounded conducting plate. What is the potential at a general point in space outside the sphere and to the right of the plane? (Carry out to at least four terms)
Homework Equations
La Place's Equation, solved using separation of variables.
Legendre Polynomials
The Attempt at a Solution
I'm trying to do this as an image charge problem. I placed a sphere of charge -Q on the opposite side of the conducting plate. My boundary conditions state that at 2R, potential goes to zero and as r goes to infinity, potential goes to zero. I set up an equation for the charge distribution of the -Q sphere: Q = integral(sigma * da). My first attempt was to approximate both spheres as point charges, but the boundary conditions do not allow for that. The directions say to include the first four terms, thus I know think that I must use the infinite sum solution to la Place's equation.
Thank you