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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
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