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UNITI

StaticElectricfields
Inthischapterwewilldiscussonthefollowings:
Coulomb'sLaw
ElectricField&ElectricFluxDensity
Gauss'sLawwithApplication
ElectrostaticPotential,EquipotentialSurfaces
BoundaryConditionsforStaticElectricFields
CapacitanceandCapacitors
ElectrostaticEnergy
Laplace'sandPoisson'sEquations
UniquenessofElectrostaticSolutions
MethodofImages
SolutionofBoundaryValueProblemsinDifferentCoordinateSystems.

Introduction
InthepreviouschapterwehavecoveredtheessentialmathematicaltoolsneededtostudyEM
fields.Wehavealreadymentionedinthepreviouschapterthatelectricchargeisa
fundamentalpropertyofmatterandchargeexistinintegralmultipleofelectroniccharge.
Electrostaticscanbedefinedasthestudyofelectricchargesatrest.Electricfieldshavetheir
sourcesinelectriccharges.
(Note:Almostallrealelectricfieldsvarytosomeextentwithtime.However,formany
problems,thefieldvariationisslowandthefieldmaybeconsideredasstatic.Forsomeother
casesspatialdistributionisnearlysameasforthestaticcaseeventhoughtheactualfieldmay
varywithtime.Suchcasesaretermedasquasistatic.)
Inthischapterwefirststudytwofundamentallawsgoverningtheelectrostaticfields,viz,(1)
Coulomb'sLawand(2)Gauss'sLaw.Boththeselawhaveexperimentalbasis.Coulomb's
lawisapplicableinfindingelectricfieldduetoanychargedistribution,Gauss'slawiseasier
tousewhenthedistributionissymmetrical.
Coulomb'sLaw
Coulomb'sLawstatesthattheforcebetweentwopointchargesQ1andQ2isdirectly
proportionaltotheproductofthechargesandinverselyproportionaltothesquareofthe
distancebetweenthem.
Pointchargeisahypotheticalchargelocatedatasinglepointinspace.Itisanidealized
modelofaparticlehavinganelectriccharge.

Mathematically,

,wherekistheproportionalityconstant.

InSIunits,Q1andQ2areexpressedinCoulombs(C)andRisinmeters.

ForceFisinNewtons(N)and

iscalledthepermittivityoffreespace.

(Weareassumingthechargesareinfreespace.Ifthechargesareanyotherdielectric

medium,wewilluse

insteadwhere

iscalledtherelativepermittivityorthe

dielectricconstantofthemedium).

Therefore

.......................(1)

AsshownintheFigure1letthepositionvectorsofthepointchargesQ1andQ2aregivenby
and

.Let

representtheforceonQ1duetochargeQ2.

Fig1:Coulomb'sLaw

Thechargesareseparatedbyadistanceof

and

.
Wedefinetheunitvectorsas

..................................(2)

canbedefinedas

Similarlytheforceon

duetocharge

c anbecalculatedandif

1
2
write

representsthisforcethenwecan

Whenwehaveanumberofpointcharges,todeterminetheforceonaparticularcharge

duetoallothercharges,weapplyprincipleofsuperposition.Ifwehave
N
numberof
charges
Q
,
Q
,.........
Q
locatedrespectivelyatthepointsrepresentedbytheposition
1
2
N
vectors

,......

,theforceexperiencedbyacharge
Q
locatedat isgivenby,

.................................(3)

ElectricField:
Theelectricfieldintensityortheelectricfieldstrengthatapointisdefinedastheforce
perunitcharge.Thatis

or,

.......................................(4)

Theelectricfieldintensity
E
atapoint
r
(observationpoint)dueapointcharge
Q
located
at

(sourcepoint)isgivenby:

..........................................(5)
Foracollectionof
N
pointcharges
Q
,Q
,.........Q
locatedat
1
2
N
fieldintensityatpoint

,......

,theelectric

isobtainedas

........................................(6)
Theexpression(6)canbemodifiedsuitablytocomputetheelectricfiledduetoa
continuousdistributionofcharges.
Infigure2weconsideracontinuousvolumedistributionofcharge
(t)
intheregion
denotedasthesourceregion.
Foranelementarycharge

,i.e.consideringthischargeaspointcharge,

wecanwritethefieldexpressionas:

.............(7)

Fig2:ContinuousVolumeDistributionofCharge
Whenthisexpressionisintegratedoverthesourceregion,wegettheelectricfieldat
thepoint
P
duetothisdistributionofcharges.Thustheexpressionfortheelectricfield
at
P
canbewrittenas:

..........................................(8)
Similartechniquecanbeadoptedwhenthechargedistributionisintheformofaline
chargedensityorasurfacechargedensity.

........................................(9)

........................................(10)
Electricfluxdensity:
AsstatedearlierelectricfieldintensityorsimplyElectricfield'givesthestrengthofthe
fieldataparticularpoint.Theelectricfielddependsonthematerialmediainwhichthe
fieldisbeingconsidered.Thefluxdensityvectorisdefinedtobeindependentofthe

materialmedia(aswe'llseethatitrelatestothechargethatisproducingit).Foralinear
isotropicmediumunderconsiderationthefluxdensityvectorisdefinedas:
................................................(11)
Wedefinetheelectricfluxas

.....................................(12)
Gauss'sLaw:

Gauss'slawisoneofthefundamentallawsofelectromagnetismandit
statesthatthetotalelectricfluxthroughaclosedsurfaceisequaltothetotalcharge
enclosedbythesurface.

Fig3:Gauss'sLaw
Letusconsiderapointcharge
Q
locatedinanisotropichomogeneousmediumof
dielectricconstant.Thefluxdensityatadistance
r
onasurfaceenclosingthechargeis
givenby

...............................................(13)
Ifweconsideranelementaryarea
d
s
,theamountoffluxpassingthroughthe
elementaryareaisgivenby

.....................................(14)

But

,istheelementarysolidanglesubtendedbythearea

locationof
Q
.Thereforewecanwrite

atthe

Foraclosedsurfaceenclosingthecharge,wecanwrite

whichcanseentobesameaswhatwehavestatedinthedefinitionofGauss'sLaw.
ApplicationofGauss'sLaw:
Gauss'slawisparticularlyusefulincomputing

or
wherethechargedistribution

hassomesymmetry.WeshallillustratetheapplicationofGauss'sLawwithsome
examples.
1.Aninfinitelinecharge
AsthefirstexampleofillustrationofuseofGauss'slaw,letconsidertheproblemof
determinationoftheelectricfieldproducedbyaninfinitelinechargeofdensity
C/m.Let
L
usconsideralinechargepositionedalongthe
z
axisasshowninFig.4(a)(nextslide).
Sincethelinechargeisassumedtobeinfinitelylong,theelectricfieldwillbeoftheform
asshowninFig.4(b)(nextslide).
IfweconsideraclosecylindricalsurfaceasshowninFig.2.4(a),usingGauss'stheorm
wecanwrite,

.....................................(15)
Consideringthefactthattheunitnormalvectortoareas
S
and
S
areperpendicularto
1
3
theelectricfield,thesurfaceintegralsforthetopandbottomsurfacesevaluatestozero.
Hencewecanwrite,

Fig4:InfiniteLineCharge

.....................................(16)
2.InfiniteSheetofCharge
AsasecondexampleofapplicationofGauss'stheorem,weconsideraninfinitecharged
sheetcoveringthe
xz
planeasshowninfigure5.

Assumingasurfacechargedensityof
fortheinfinitesurfacecharge,ifweconsideracylindricalvolumehavingsides
placedsymmetricallyasshowninfigure5,wecanwrite:

..............(17)

Fig5:InfiniteSheetofCharge

Itmaybenotedthattheelectricfieldstrengthisindependentofdistance.Thisistruefor
theinfiniteplaneofchargeelectriclinesofforceoneithersideofthechargewillbe
perpendiculartothesheetandextendtoinfinityasparallellines.Asnumberoflinesof
forceperunitareagivesthestrengthofthefield,thefieldbecomesindependentof
distance.Forafinitechargesheet,thefieldwillbeafunctionofdistance.
3.UniformlyChargedSphere
Letusconsiderasphereofradiusr0havingauniformvolumechargedensityofrv
C/m3.Todetermine

everywhere,insideandoutsidethesphere,weconstruct

Gaussiansurfacesofradiusr<r0andr>r0asshowninFig.6(a)andFig.6(b).
Fortheregion

thetotalenclosedchargewillbe

.........................(18)


Fig6:UniformlyChargedSphere
ByapplyingGauss'stheorem,

...............(19)
Therefore

..............................................(20)
Fortheregion

thetotalenclosedchargewillbe

...........................................................(21)

ByapplyingGauss'stheorem,

.......................................(22)
ElectrostaticPotentialandEquipotentialSurfaces
Intheprevioussectionswehaveseenhowtheelectricfieldintensityduetoachargeor
achargedistributioncanbefoundusingCoulomb'slaworGauss'slaw.Sinceacharge
placedinthevicinityofanothercharge(orinotherwordsinthefieldofothercharge)
experiencesaforce,themovementofthechargerepresentsenergyexchange.
Electrostaticpotentialisrelatedtotheworkdoneincarryingachargefromonepointto
theotherinthepresenceofanelectricfield.Letussupposethatwewishtomovea

positivetestcharge

fromapointPtoanotherpointQasshownintheFig.8.The

forceatanypointalongitspathwouldcausetheparticletoaccelerateandmoveitout
oftheregionifunconstrained.Sincewearedealingwithanelectrostaticcase,aforce
equaltothenegativeofthatactingonthechargeistobeappliedwhile

movesfrom

PtoQ.Theworkdonebythisexternalagentinmovingthechargebyadistance
givenby:

is

.............................(23)

Fig8:MovementofTestChargeinElectricField

Thenegativesignaccountsforthefactthatworkisdoneonthesystembytheexternal
agent.

.....................................(24)
ThepotentialdifferencebetweentwopointsPandQ,VPQ,isdefinedasthework
doneperunitcharge,i.e.

...............................(25)

Itmaybenotedthatinmovingachargefromtheinitialpointtothefinalpointifthe
potentialdifferenceispositive,thereisagaininpotentialenergyinthemovement,
externalagentperformstheworkagainstthefield.Ifthesignofthepotentialdifference

isnegative,workisdonebythefield.
Wewillseethattheelectrostaticsystemisconservativeinthatnonetenergyis
exchangedifthetestchargeismovedaboutaclosedpath,i.e.returningtoitsinitial
position.Further,thepotentialdifferencebetweentwopointsinanelectrostaticfieldisa
pointfunctionitisindependentofthepathtaken.Thepotentialdifferenceismeasured
inJoules/CoulombwhichisreferredtoasVolts.
LetusconsiderapointchargeQasshownintheFig.9.

Fig9:ElectrostaticPotentialcalculationforapointcharge

FurtherconsiderthetwopointsAandBasshownintheFig.9.Consideringthe
movementofaunitpositivetestchargefromBtoA,wecanwriteanexpressionforthe
potentialdifferenceas:

...................(26)

Itiscustomarytochoosethepotentialtobezeroatinfinity.Thuspotentialatanypoint(
rA=r)duetoapointchargeQcanbewrittenastheamountofworkdoneinbringinga
unitpositivechargefrominfinitytothatpoint(i.e.rB=0).

..................................(27)


Or,inotherwords,

..................................(28)

LetusnowconsiderasituationwherethepointchargeQisnotlocatedattheoriginas
showninFig.10.

Fig10:ElectrostaticPotentialdueaDisplacedCharge
ThepotentialatapointPbecomes

..................................(29)
Sofarwehaveconsideredthepotentialduetopointchargesonly.Asanyothertypeof
chargedistributioncanbeconsideredtobeconsistingofpointcharges,thesamebasic
ideasnowcanbeextendedtoothertypesofchargedistributionalso.Letusfirst
considerNpointchargesQ1,Q2,.....QNlocatedatpointswithpositionvectors
.......

.Thepotentialatapointhavingpositionvector canbewrittenas:

..................................(30a)
OR

...................................(30b)


Forcontinuouschargedistribution,wereplacepointchargesQnbycorresponding
chargeelements

or

or

dependingonwhetherthechargedistribution

islinear,surfaceoravolumechargedistributionandthesummationisreplacedbyan
integral.Withthesemodificationswecanwrite:

Forlinecharge,

(31)

Forsurfacecharge,

.................................(32)

Forvolumecharge,

.................................(33)

Itmaybenotedherethattheprimedcoordinatesrepresentthesourcecoordinatesand
theunprimedcoordinatesrepresentfieldpoint.
Further,inourdiscussionsofarwehaveusedthereferenceorzeropotentialatinfinity.
Ifanyotherpointischosenasreference,wecanwrite:

.................................(34)

whereCisaconstant.Inthesamemannerwhenpotentialiscomputedfromaknown
electricfieldwecanwrite:

..(35)

Thepotentialdifferenceishoweverindependentofthechoiceofreference.

.......................(36)

Wehavementionedthatelectrostaticfieldisaconservativefieldtheworkdonein
movingachargefromonepointtotheotherisindependentofthepath.Letusconsider
movingachargefrompointP1toP2inonepathandthenfrompointP2backtoP1
overadifferentpath.Iftheworkdoneonthetwopathsweredifferent,anetpositiveor
negativeamountofworkwouldhavebeendonewhenthebodyreturnstoitsoriginal
positionP1.Inaconservativefieldthereisnomechanismfordissipatingenergy
correspondingtoanypositiveworkneitheranysourceispresentfromwhichenergy
couldbeabsorbedinthecaseofnegativework.Hencethequestionofdifferentworks
intwopathsisuntenable,theworkmusthavetobeindependentofpathanddepends
ontheinitialandfinalpositions.
Sincethepotentialdifferenceisindependentofthepathstaken,VAB=VBA,andover
aclosedpath,

.................................(37)

ApplyingStokes'stheorem,wecanwrite:
............................(38)
fromwhichitfollowsthatforelectrostaticfield,

......................(39)

Anyvectorfieldthatsatisfiesiscalledanirrotationalfield.
Fromourdefinitionofpotential,wecanwrite

.................................(40)

fromwhichweobtain,
..........................................(41)

Fromtheforegoingdiscussionsweobservethattheelectricfieldstrengthatanypointis
thenegativeofthepotentialgradientatanypoint,negativesignshowsthat
directedfromhighertolowervaluesof

is

.Thisgivesusanothermethodofcomputing

theelectricfield,i.e.ifweknowthepotentialfunction,theelectricfieldmaybe
computed.Wemaynoteherethatthatonescalarfunction
informationthatthreecomponentsof
thatthreecomponentsof

containallthe

carry,thesameispossiblebecauseofthefact

areinterrelatedbytherelation

EquipotentialSurfaces
An equipotential surface refers to a surface where the potential is constant. The
intersection of an equipotential surface with an plane surface results into a path called
an equipotential line. No work is done in moving a charge from one point to the other
alonganequipotentiallineorsurface.
In figure 12, thedasheslinesshowtheequipotentiallinesforapositivepointcharge.By
symmetry, the equipotential surfaces are spherical surfaces and the equipotential lines
arecircles.Thesolidlinesshowthefluxlinesorelectriclinesofforce.

Fig12:EquipotentialLinesforaPositivePointCharge
MichaelFaradayasawayofvisualizingelectricfieldsintroducedfluxlines.Itmaybe
seenthattheelectricfluxlinesandtheequipotentiallinesarenormaltoeachother.In

ordertoplottheequipotentiallinesforanelectricdipole,weobservethatforagivenQ
andd,aconstantVrequiresthat

isaconstant.Fromthiswecanwrite

tobetheequationforanequipotentialsurfaceandafamilyofsurfacescan
begeneratedforvariousvaluesofcv.Whenplottedin2Dthiswouldgiveequipotential
lines.
To determine the equation for the electric field lines, we note that field lines represent
thedirectionof

inspace.Therefore,

,kisaconstant.............................................(42)
.................(43)

Forthedipoleunderconsideration

=0,andthereforewecanwrite,

..................................(44)
ElectrostaticEnergyandEnergyDensity:
We have stated that the electric potential at a point in an electric field is the amount of
work required to bring a unit positive charge frominfinity(referenceofzeropotential)to
that point. Todeterminetheenergythatispresentinanassemblyofcharges,letusfirst
determine the amount of work required to assemble them. Let us consideranumberof
discrete charges Q1, Q2,......., QN are brought frominfinitytotheirpresentpositionone
by one. Since initially there is no field present, the amount of work done in bring Q1 is
zero. Q2 isbroughtinthepresenceofthefieldofQ1,theworkdoneW1=Q2V21where
V21 is the potential at the location of Q2 due to Q1.Proceedinginthismanner,wecan
write, the total work done
....................(45)
Hadthechargesbeenbroughtinthereverseorder,


................(46)
Therefore,

....
............(47)

HereVIJrepresentvoltageattheIthchargelocationduetoJthcharge.Therefore,

Or,

................(48)

Ifinsteadofdiscretecharges,wenowhaveadistributionofchargesoveravolumev

thenwecanwrite,
where

................(49)

isthevolumechargedensityandVrepresentsthepotentialfunction.

Since,

,wecanwrite

.......................................(50)
Usingthevectoridentity,
,wecanwrite

................(51)

Intheexpression
,thetermV

,forpointcharges,sinceVvariesas
variesas

andDvariesas

whiletheareavariesasr2.Hencetheintegralterm

variesatleastas

andtheassurfacebecomeslarge(i.e.

)theintegralterm

tendstozero.
ThustheequationforWreducesto

................(52)
,iscalledtheenergydensityintheelectrostaticfield.

PoissonsandLaplacesEquations
Forelectrostaticfield,wehaveseenthat

................................................................(53)
Formtheabovetwoequationswecanwrite
................................................(54)

Usingvectoridentitywecanwrite,

................(55)

Forasimplehomogeneousmedium,

isconstantand

.Therefore,

................(56)
ThisequationisknownasPoissonsequation.Herewehaveintroducedanewoperator
,(delsquare),calledtheLaplacianoperator.InCartesiancoordinates,

...............(57)
Therefore,inCartesiancoordinates,Poissonequationcanbewrittenas:

...............(58)
Incylindricalcoordinates,

...............(59)
Insphericalpolarcoordinatesystem,

...............(60)
Atpointsinsimplemedia,wherenofreechargeispresent,Poissonsequationreducesto

...................................(61)

whichisknownasLaplacesequation.
Laplaces and Poissons equation are very useful for solving many practical electrostatic field
problems where only the electrostatic conditions (potential and charge) at some boundaries are
known and solution of electric field and potentialistobefoundhroughoutthevolume.Weshall
considersuchapplicationsinthesectionwherewedealwithboundaryvalueproblems.

Conventionandconductioncurrent:


CapacitanceandCapacitors
We have already statedthataconductorinanelectrostaticfieldisanEquipotentialbodyandany
charge given to such conductor will distribute themselves in such a manner that electric field
inside the conductor vanishes. If an additional amount of charge is supplied to an isolated
conductor at agivenpotential,thisadditionalchargewillincreasethesurfacechargedensity

. Since the potential of the conductor is given by


conductor will also increase maintaining the ratio same

, the potential of the


. Thus we can write

where

the constant of proportionality C is called the capacitance of the isolated conductor. SI unit of
capacitance is Coulomb/ Volt also calledFaraddenotedbyF.ItcanItcanbeseenthatifV=1,C
= Q. Thus capacity of an isolated conductor can also be defined as the amount of charge in
Coulombrequiredtoraisethepotentialoftheconductorby1Volt.
Of considerable interest in practice is a capacitor that consists of two (or more) conductors
carrying equal and opposite charges and separated by some dielectric media or free space. The
conductorsmayhavearbitraryshapes.Atwoconductorcapacitorisshowninfigurebelow.

Fig:CapacitanceandCapacitors

Whenadcvoltagesourceisconnectedbetweentheconductors,achargetransferoccurswhich
resultsintoapositivechargeononeconductorandnegativechargeontheotherconductor.The
conductorsareequipotentialsurfacesandthefieldlinesareperpendiculartotheconductor
surface.IfVisthemeanpotentialdifferencebetweentheconductors,thecapacitanceisgivenby
.Capacitanceofacapacitordependsonthegeometryoftheconductorandthe
permittivityofthemediumbetweenthemanddoesnotdependonthechargeorpotential
differencebetweenconductors.ThecapacitancecanbecomputedbyassumingQ(atthesame
timeQontheotherconductor),firstdetermining
determining

usingGaussstheoremandthen

.Weillustratethisprocedurebytakingtheexampleofaparallelplate

capacitor.
Example:Parallelplatecapacitor

Fig:ParallelPlateCapacitor
Fortheparallelplatecapacitorshowninthefigureabout,leteachplatehasareaAandadistance
hseparatestheplates.Adielectricofpermittivity

fillstheregionbetweentheplates.The

electricfieldlinesareconfinedbetweentheplates.Weignorethefluxfringingattheedgesof
theplatesandchargesareassumedtobeuniformlydistributedovertheconductingplateswith
densities

and

ByGaussstheoremwecanwrite,
Aswehaveassumed

.......................(1)

tobeuniformandfringingoffieldisneglected,weseethatEis

constantintheregionbetweentheplatesandtherefore,wecanwrite

.Thus,fora

parallelplatecapacitorwehave,
........................(2)
SeriesandparallelConnectionofcapacitors
Capacitorsareconnectedinvariousmannersinelectricalcircuitsseriesandparallelconnections
arethetwobasicwaysofconnectingcapacitors.Wecomputetheequivalentcapacitanceforsuch
connections.
SeriesCase:Seriesconnectionoftwocapacitorsisshowninthefigure1.Forthiscasewecan
write,

.......................(1)

Fig1.:SeriesConnectionofCapacitors

Fig2:ParallelConnectionofCapacitors
Thesameapproachmaybeextendedtomorethantwocapacitorsconnectedinseries.
ParallelCase:Fortheparallelcase,thevoltagesacrossthecapacitorsarethesame.
Thetotalcharge

Therefore,

.......................(2)

ContinuityEquationandKirchhoffsCurrentLaw
Let usconsideravolumeVboundedbyasurfaceS.AnetchargeQexistswithinthisregion.Ifa
net current I flows across the surface out of this region, from the principle of conservation of
charge this current can be equated to the time rate of decrease of charge within this volume.
Similarly, if a net current flows into the region, the charge in the volumemustincreaseatarate
equaltothecurrent.Thuswecanwrite,

or,

.....................................(3)

......................(4)

Applyingdivergencetheoremwecanwrite,

.....................(5)
It may be noted that, since

ingeneralmaybeafunctionofspaceandtime,partialderivatives

are used. Further, the equation holds regardless of the choice of volume V ,theintegrandsmust

beequal.
Thereforewecanwrite,

................(6)

The equation(6)iscalledthecontinuityequation,whichrelatesthedivergenceofcurrentdensity
vectortotherateofchangeofchargedensityatapoint.
Forsteadycurrentflowinginaregion,wehave
......................(7)
Consideringaregionboundedbyaclosedsurface,
..................(8)
whichcanbewrittenas,
......................(9)
whenweconsidertheclosesurfaceessentiallyenclosesajunctionofanelectricalcircuit.
The above equation is the Kirchhoffs current law of circuit theory, which states that algebraic
sumofallthecurrentsflowingoutofajunctioninanelectriccircuit,iszero.
Questionbank
:
st
1
unit

Bits:
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

Displacementcurrentinaconductorisgreaterthanconductioncurrent(
yes
/no)
Electricdipolemomentisavector (
yes
/no)
Electricsusceptibilityhastheunitofpermittivity(yes/
no
)
Capacitancedependsondielectricmaterialbetweentheconductors(
yes
/no)
TheunitofpotentialisJoule/coulomb(
yes
/no)
(
yes
/no)

7. Coulombsforceisproportionalto

8. Theunitofelectricfluxis
coulombs
9. Theelectricfieldonxaxisduetoalinechargeextendingfrom

10. Potentialatallpointsonthesurfaceofaconductoris
thesame
11. Laplaceequationhas
onlyonesolution
12. Exampleofnonpolartypeofdielectricis
oxygen
13. Theelectricsusceptabilittyofadielectricis4,itsrelativepermittivityis
5
14. BoundaryconditionforthenormalcomponentofEontheboundaryofa

dielectricis
=

15. Potentialduetoachargeatapointsituatedatinfinityis
0

16. Relationtimeis
17. Theforcemagnitudeb/wQ
=1CandQ
=1Cwhentheyareseparatedby1minfree
1
2
9
spaceis
9*10
N

18.
=0isinpointform
=0
19. Directionofdipolemomentisindirectionof
appliedelectricfield
20. Ifaforce,F=4a
+a
+2a
moves1 Cchargethroughadisplacementof4a
+2a

x
y
Z
x
y
6a
theresultantworkdoneis
6 J
Z

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