Conductors in electrostatics

In a conductor electrons are free to move. If they are acted on by a force, they will accelerate in the direction
of the force. If a conductor is placed into an external electric field, a force F =-eE acts on each free
electron. Electrons accelerate and gain velocity in a direction opposite to the field. Soon electrons will pile
up on the surface on one side of the conductor, while the surface on the other side will be depleted of
electrons and have a net positive charge. These separated negative and positive charges on opposing
sides of the conductor produce their own electric field, which opposes the external field inside the conductor
and modifies the field outside.
When enough electrons have piled up on one side and enough positive charge has been left on the other
side, then the field produced by these charges exactly cancels the external field inside the conductor, and
electrons inside the conductor no longer experience a force. This is the case in the picture shown above.
The inside of the conducting sphere is field-free, while the previously constant external field outside has
been modified.
In static equilibrium the inside of a conductor is field free. If it were not, electrons would move and distribute
themselves, so as to cancel out the field. The inside of a conductor can not contain any net charge. Such
charges would produce a field inside the conductor, and electrons would move and cancel out the field and
neutralize the charge. Any excess charge on a conductor must therefore reside on the surface. The field
just outside the conductor at the surface must be perpendicular to the surface. If it were not, electrons would
redistribute themselves to cancel out the field. The strength of the electric field on the surface of a conductor
can be found by applying Gauss' law.
The electric flux through the surface shown in the figure above is = Q
inside
/
0
=A/
0
, where is the
surface charge density and A is the area of the conductor's surface inside the Gaussian surface shown. The
flux through the sides of the Gaussian surface is zero, since E is perpendicular to the surface of the
conductor. The flux through the bottom of the Gaussian surface is zero since the electric field inside a
conductor is zero. The total flux through the Gaussian surface therefore equals the flux through the top, and
we have =EA. We therefore have for the strength of the electric field near the surface of a conductor
E =/
0
.
The surface of any conductor is an equipotential surface. The field is everywhere perpendicular to the
surface. No work is being done moving a charge along on the surface. The surface of a spherical conductor
with radius R, carrying a charge Q is at a potential V =k
e
Q/R. If we have two spherical conductors with radii
R
1
and R
2
, respectively, at the same potential V, they carry charges Q
1
=R
1
V/k and Q
2
=R
2
V/k,
respectively. The electric fields near their surfaces are E
1
=k
e
Q
1
/R
1
2
=V/R
1
and E
2
=k
e
Q
2
/R
2
2
=V/R
2
respectively. The smaller the radius, the larger is the electric field. In general, near the surface of a
conductor, the field is largest in places with the smallest local radius of curvature.
Very strong fields are found near sharp conducting tips. Air molecules will be stripped of electrons if the field
becomes too large (~310
6
V/m). The free electrons accelerate and collide with other molecules to make
more ions and electrons. A plasma forms between the conductor and the ground and the conductor
discharges. This is called a corona discharge.
A device that makes use of the strong field near a tip is the field ion microscope. The field ion microscope
has a sharp tip with a local radius of curvature of ~10 - 100 nm. This tip faces a phosphor screen. Under
vacuum, a potential difference is established between the tip and the screen. The tip is held at the more
positive potential. A small amount of inert gas is admitted, and gas atoms near the tip are ionized. Electrons
are ripped off these atoms. The positively charged ions are accelerated by the intense electric field along a
straight line toward the phosphor screen, where they are detected by converting their kinetic energy into
light. Each point on the tip maps into a different point on the screen, so that a magnified, image of the tip
can be viewed. Since the tip is only 10 - 100nm in radius, one can achieve atomic resolution. A typical field
ion microscope image of a 'single crystal' tungsten tip is shown below:
The bright spots correspond to positions on the tip where the electric field is particularly high, i.e. where the
local radius of curvature is particularly small. This happens near atoms, so the microscope images the
position of atoms in the tip.
Link:
The ORNL Atom Probe
Summary:
In electrostatic equilibrium a conductor has the following properties.
Any excess charge resides on the surface of the conductor.
The electric field is zero within the solid part of the conductor.
The electric field at the surface of the conductor is perpendicular to the surface.
Charge accumulates, and the field is strongest, on pointy parts of the conductor.
The entire conductor is at the same potential. There is no field inside the conductor. A cavity inside a
conductor, completely surrounded by conducting material, also is free of electric fields, if it does not contain
any net charge itself. A conductor shields its interior from any outside electric fields. Even if there are
holes in the surface, the electric field does not penetrate very far. A rule of thumb is that the electric field
falls to zero over a distance approximately equal to the diameter of the hole.
In the diagram above, the field only penetrates a small distance through the holes into the box with
conducting walls.
Why are you safest inside your car during a thunderstorm?
Problem:
A square plate of copper with 50cm sides has no net charge and is placed in a region of uniform
electric field of 80 kN/C directed perpendicular to the plate. Find
(a) the charge density on each face of the plate and
(b) the total charge on each phase.
Solution:
(a) The surface charges on the plate must produce a field, which exactly cancels the
external field inside the conductor. The magnitude of the field produce by a surface charge
is E =/2
0
. We require that the field produced by the charges on the upper and the field
produced by the charges on the lower surface together cancel the external field. The
charge density on one of the surfaces is positive. On the other surface the charge density
is negative it has the same magnitude, since the net charge is zero. Inside the conductor
the fields produced by the charges on the two surfaces have the same direction and we
add their magnitudes to find the magnitude of the total field. We need E
ext
=2E =/
0
.
We therefore need =
0
80kN/C =710
-7
C/m
2
for the magnitude of the charge density.
One plate has positive, and on plate has negative charge density.
(b) The magnitude of total charge on each plate is Q =A =(710
-7
C/m
2
)0.25m
2
=
1.7710
-7
C. One plate has positive and one plate has negative charge.
Capacitors
A capacitor is a device for storing charge. No single electronic component plays a more important role today
than the capacitor. This device is used to store information in computer memories, to regulate voltages in
power supplies, to establish electrical fields, to store electrical energy, to detect and produce
electromagnetic waves, and to measure time.
Any two conductors separated by an insulating medium form a capacitor. A parallel plate capacitor consists
of two plates separated by a thin insulating material known as a dielectric. One plate of the capacitor holds
a positive charge Q, while the other holds a negative charge -Q. The charge Q on the plates is proportional
to the potential difference V across the two plates. The capacitance C is the proportional constant,
Q =CV, C =Q/V.
Material Dielectric Constant
Air 1.00059
Aluminum Silicate 5.3 to 5.5
Bakelite 3.7
Beeswax (yellow) 2.7
Butyl Rubber 2.4
Formica XX 4.00
Germanium 16
Glass 4 to 10
Gutta-percha 2.6
Halowax oil 4.8
Kel-F 2.6
C depends on the capacitor's geometry and on the type of dielectric material used. The capacitance of a
parallel plate capacitor with two plates of area A separated by a distance d and no dielectric material
between the plates is
C =
0
A/d.
(The electric field is E =/
0
. The voltage is V =Ed =d/
0
. The charge is Q =A. Therefore Q/V =A
0
/d
=A
0
/d.) The SI unit of capacitance is Coulomb/Volt =Farad (F). Typical capacitors have capacitances in
the picoFarad to microFarad range.
The capacitance tells us how much charge the device stores for a given voltage. A dielectric between the
conductors increases the capacitance of a capacitor. The molecules of the dielectric material are polarized
in the field between the two conductors. The entire negative and positive charge of the dielectric is
displaced by a small amount with respect to each other. This results in an effective positive surface charge
on one side of the dielectric and a negative surface charge on the other side of the dielectric. These
effective surface charges on the dielectric produce an electric field, which opposes the field produced by the
surface charges on the conductors, and thus reduces the voltage between the conductors. To keep the
voltage up, more charge must be put onto the conductors. The capacitor thus stores more charge for a given
voltage. The dielectric constant is the ratio of the voltage V
0
between the conductors without the dielectric
to the voltage V with the dielectric, =V
0
/V, for a given amount of charge Q on the conductors.
In the diagram above, the same amount of charge Q on the conductors results in a smaller field between the
plates of the capacitor with the dielectric. The higher the dielectric constant , the more charge a capacitor
can store for a given voltage. For a parallel-plate capacitor with a dielectric between the plates, the
capacitance is
C =Q/V =Q/V
0
=
0
A/d.
The static dielectric constant of any material is always greater than 1.
Typical dielectric constants:
Material Dielectric Constant
Paper 1.5 to 3
Paraffin 2 to 3
Plexiglass 3.4
Polyethylene 2.2
Polystyrene 2.56
Porcelain 5 to 7
Pyrex glass 5.6
Quartz 3.7 to 4.5
Silicone oil 2.5
Steatite 5.3 to 6.5
Strontium titanate 233
Lucite 2.8
Mica 4 to 8
Micarta 254 3.4 to 5.4
Mylar 3.1
Neoprene rubber 6.7
Nylon 3.00
Teflon 2.1
Tenite 2.9 to 4.5
Vacuum 1.00000
Vaseline 2.16
Water (distilled) 76.7 to 78.2
Wood 1.2 to 2.1
Energy stored in a capacitor
The energy stored in a capacitor is equal to the work done in separating the charges on the conductors. The
more charge is already stored on the plates, the more work must be done to separate additional charges,
because of the strong repulsion between like charges. At a given voltage, it takes an infinitesimal amount of
work dW =VdQ to separate an additional infinitesimal amount of charge dQ. (The voltage V is the amount
of work per unit charge.) We can write dW =(Q/C)dQ, since V =Q/C. To find the total work done in
charging the capacitor we integrate,
.
The energy stored in a capacitor therefore is
U =(1/2)(Q
2
/C).
Using Q =CV we can also write
U =(1/2)CV
2
.
Link:
Variable Capacitor Exercise
Problem:
Each memory cell in a computer contains a capacitor to store charge. Charge being stored or not
being stored corresponds to the binary digits 1 and 0. To pack the cells more densely, trench
capacitors are often used in which the plates of a capacitor are mounted vertically along the walls of a
trench etched into a silicon chip. If we have a capacitance of 50 femtoFarad =5010
-15
F and each
plate has an area of 2010
-12
m
2
(micron-sized trenches), what is the plate separation?
Solution:
If there is no dielectric material, then
C =
0
A/d, d =
0
A/C =(8.8510
-12
2010
-12
/(5010
-15
))m =3.5410
-9
m.
Typical atomic dimensions are on the order of 0.1nm, so the trench is on the order of 30 atoms
wide.
For any insulator, there is a maximum electric field that can be maintained without ionizing the molecules.
For a capacitor this means that there is a maximum allowable voltage that that can be placed across the
conductors. This maximum voltage depends the dielectric in the capacitor. The corresponding maximum
field is called the dielectric strength of the material. For stronger fields, the capacitor 'breaks down' (similar
to a corona discharge) and is normally destroyed. Most capacitors used in electrical circuits carry both a
capacitance and a voltage rating. This breakdown voltage V
b
is related to the dielectric strength E
b
. For a
parallel plate capacitor we have V
b
=E
b
d.
Material Dielectric Strength (V/m)
Air
310
6
Bakelite
2410
6
Neoprene rubber
1210
6
Nylon
1410
6
Paper
1610
6
Polystyrene
2410
6
Pyrex glass
1410
6
Quartz
810
6
Silicone oil
1510
6
Strontium titanate
810
6
Teflon
6010
6
Capacitors in parallel
Consider two capacitors in parallel as shown below.
When the battery is connected, electrons will flow until the potential of point A is the same as the potential of
the positive terminal of the battery and the potential of point B is equal to that of the negative terminal of the
battery. Thus, the potential difference between the plates of both capacitors is V
A
- V
B
=V
bat
. We have C
1
=Q
1
/V
bat
and C
2
=Q
2
/V
bat
, where Q
1
is the charge on capacitor C
1
, and Q
2
is the charge on capacitor C
2
.
Let C be the equivalent capacitance of the two capacitors in parallel, i.e. C =Q/V
bat
, where Q =Q
1
+Q
2
.
Then C =(Q
1
+Q
2
)/V
bat
=C
1
+C
2
. For capacitors in parallel, the capacitances add. For more than two
capacitors we have
C =C
1
+C
2
+C
3
+C
4
+.
Capacitors in series
Let Q represent the total charge on the top plate of C
1
, which then induces a charge -Q on its bottom plate.
The charge on the bottom plate of C
2
will be -Q, which in turn induces a charge +Q on its top plate as
shown.
Let V
1
and V
2
represent the potential differences between plates of capacitors C
1
and C
2
, respectively.
Then V
1
+V
2
=V
bat
, or (Q/C
1
) +(Q/C
2
) =Q/C, or (1/C
1
) +(1/C
2
) =1/C. For more than two capacitors in
series we have
where C is equivalent capacitance of the two capacitors.
Electrostatic air cleaners
Electrostatic air cleaners remove dust, soot, and ash particles from normal air. Each dust, soot, or ash
particle has mass. The air exerts two types of forces on the particles, the buoyant force and the viscous
drag force. Since the particles are denser than air, the buoyant force alone cannot support the particles.
The viscous drag force keeps the particles from descending quickly. For small particles the terminal velocity
can be lower than 1mm/s. The drag force opposes relative motion between the particles and the air, and
moving air tends to carry the particles along with it. The slightest upward breeze can keep the dust, soot,
and ash particle aloft.
Electrostatic air cleaners use electrostatic forces to pull these particles from the air. A typical air cleaner
gives each particle a negative charge and then collects it on a positively charged surface.
How does a dust grain become negatively charged?
The air cleaner uses a corona discharge to give the dust grain a negative charge. A power supply does
work maintaining a potential difference of approximately 10000V between the corona wires and the
collecting surfaces. The negatively charged dust flows with the air through the air cleaner. When it passes a
positively charged surface, it experiences an electrostatic force strong enough to overwhelm the viscous
drag. The dust particles quickly leave the air stream and collect on the charged surface. The air continues
on without the dust. The air cleaner precipitates clumps of dust on its collecting plates, and therefore is
called an electrostatic precipitator. It can accumulate large amounts of dust on its plates without blocking
the airflow and it is easy to clean. When several centimeters of dust have accumulated on the collecting
surfaces, it is removed by rapping the plates with a stick. The sudden blow causes the plates to accelerate
rapidly and they leave the dust behind. It falls in clumps to the bottom of the precipitator, where its collected
for recycling or disposal.
Ion Generators
Household ion generators are also effective at removing dust and smoke from room air. These machines
resemble electrostatic precipitators, but they have no internal collecting plates. They use a corona
discharges to charge passing molecules and dust grains and then let those charged particles drift into the
room. When the charged particles come near a surface, they polarize the surface and are attracted to it.
Although this method is cheap and effective, it slowly dirties the walls and the furniture.
Link:
Electrostatic Precipitation
Photocopiers
At the heart of the photocopier is a thin layer of photoconductor. A photoconductor is a solid material
through which electrons can move only when it is exposed to light. In the dark, it is an insulator, in the
light, its a conductor. This property allows light to determine the pattern of static electricity on a copying
drum and hence the placement of toner on a piece of paper.
The light sensitive component in a photocopier is a metal drum that is covered with a thin layer of
photoconductor. This metal drum is grounded. The copier coats the photoconductor with electrons, which
remain in place as long as the photoconductor is in the dark. But wherever light strikes the photoconductor,
it becomes conductive and allows the electrons to escape through the metal and flow into the ground. Only
the portions of the photoconductor which are not illuminated retain their static electric charge and eventually
attract black toner particles. In that manner, the darkened parts of the photoconductor produce the dark
parts of the final copy.
The copier starts by applying a uniform negative charge to the surface of the photoconductor. This charge is
applied by a corotron, a fine wire centered in a half-cylinder of metal. A power supply pumps electrons onto
the fine wire until they are emitted into the air as a corona discharge. When these electrons approach the
photoconductor they polarize it and stick to it. The photoconductor becomes uniformly charged, with about
10
-7
C of negative charge per cm
2
of surface. After the charging, the copier exposes the photoconductor to
light from the original document. It uses a lens to cast an image of the original onto the photoconductors
surface. Light only hits the photoconductor in certain places, which correspond to the white parts of the
original document. When the exposure is over, the photoconductor carries a charge image of the original
document.
To develop this charge image into a visible one, the photocopier exposes the photoconductor to charged
toner particles. The toner is a fine insulating plastic powder. A spinning brush with extraordinarily soft
bristles wipes toner particles out of their storage tray onto the photoconductor. During this transfer, the toner
particles become positively charged so that they stick to the negatively charged portions of the
photoconductor. The photoconductor now carries a black image of the original document. But to create a
copy, this black image must be transferred to paper. To begin this transfer, the copier illuminates the
photoconductor with a charge erase lamp so that the photoconductors negative charge escapes into the
metal. The toner remains in place but it is only very weakly attached. The copier than transfers the toner to
a nearby sheet of paper by applying negative charge to the papers back. The positively charged toner is
attracted to the negatively charged paper and the two leave the photoconductor together. The copier then
heats and presses the copy, permanently fusing the toner into the paper. Sometimes, when a copier jams,
you may remove a sheet before it has been fused. The image looks completely normal but wipes off when
you touch it because its held in place only by electrostatic forces. Once the image has been transferred to
the paper the drum is cleaned. The photoconductor is then ready to be used again.
A laser printer is also a photocopier device, but it uses a laser beam to write a charge image directly onto its
photoconductor drum. Wherever laser light hits the drum, charge flows through the photoconductor. A
computer in the printer turns the laser on and off as it systematically constructs the charge image, one dot at
a time. The photoconductor and the toner supply are contained in a single disposable cartridge.
Other links concerning electrostatics:
How does a photocopier work
How the Van de Graaff generator works
Lightning
Lightning Primer
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