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Static Electric Fields

Unit I

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Electromagnetic field

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A changing magnetic field always produces an electric field, and conversely, a changing
electric field always produces a magnetic field. This interaction of electric and magnetic
forces gives rise to a condition in space known as an electromagnetic field. The
characteristics of an electromagnetic field are expressed mathematically by Maxwell's
equation.
Vector

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A directed line segment. As such, vectors have magnitude and direction. Many physical
quantities, for example, velocity, acceleration, and force, are vectors.

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Cross product

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the Cross Product is a binary operation on two vectors in a three-dimensional Euclidean

space that results in another vector which is perpendicular to the two input vectors. By
contrast, the dot product produces a scalar result. In many engineering and physics
problems, it is handy to be able to construct a perpendicular vector from two existing
vectors, and the cross product provides a means for doing so. The cross product is also
known as the vector product, or Gibbs vector product.

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The cross product is not defined except in three-dimensions (and the algebra defined by
the cross product is not associative). Like the dot product, it depends on the metric of
Euclidean space. Unlike the dot product, it also depends on the choice of orientation or
"handedness". Certain features of the cross product can be generalized to other situations.
For arbitrary choices of orientation, the cross product must be regarded not as a vector,
but as a pseudovector. For arbitrary choices of metric, and in arbitrary dimensions, the
cross product can be generalized by the exterior product of vectors, defining a two-form
instead of a vector.

Fig 1.1 Illustration of the cross-product in respect to a right-handed coordinate system.

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Fig 1.2 Finding the direction of the cross product by the right-hand rule.

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The cross product is given by the formula

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The cross product of two vectors a and b is denoted by a b. In a three-dimensional

Euclidean space, with a usual right-handed coordinate system, it is defined as a vector c
that is perpendicular to both a and b, with a direction given by the right-hand rule and a
magnitude equal to the area of the parallelogram that the vectors span.

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where is the measure of the angle between a and b (0 180), a and b are the
magnitudes of vectors a and b, and
is a unit vector perpendicular to the plane
containing a and b. If the vectors a and b are collinear (i.e., the angle between them is
either 0 or 180), by the above formula, the cross product of a and b is the zero vector 0.

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The direction of the vector is given by the right-hand rule, where one simply points the
forefinger of the right hand in the direction of a and the middle finger in the direction of
b. Then, the vector is coming out of the thumb (see the picture on the right).
Using the cross product requires the handedness of the coordinate system to be taken into
account (as explicit in the definition above). If a left-handed coordinate system is used,
the direction of the vector is given by the left-hand rule and points in the opposite
direction.

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Dot product

The dot product, also known as the scalar product, is an operation which takes two
vectors over the real numbers R and returns a real-valued scalar quantity.

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where

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|a| and |b| denote the length (magnitude) of a and b

is the angle between them.

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Since |a|cos() is the scalar projection of a onto b, the dot product can be understood
geometrically as the product of this projection with the length of b.

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|a|cos() is the scalar projection of a onto b

Coordinate System

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A coordinate system is a mathematical language that is used to describe geometrical

objects analytically

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A cartesian coordinate system is one of the simplest and most useful systems of
coordinates. It is constructed by choosing a point O designated as the origin. Through it
three intersecting directed lines OX, OY, OZ, the coordinate axes, are constructed. The
coordinates of a point P are x, the distance of P from the plane YOZ measured parallel to
OX, and y and z, which are determined similarly (Fig. 1). Usually the three axes are taken
to be mutually perpendicular, in which case the system is a rectangular cartesian one.
Obviously a similar construction can be made in the plane, in which case a point has two
coordinates (x,y).

fig 1.3 Cartesian coordinate system.

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Cylindrical Coordinate System

A point P is given as (r,,h). In terms of the Cartesian coordinate system:

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r is the distance from O to P', the orthogonal projection of the point P onto the XY
plane. This is the same as the distance of P to the z-axis.
is the angle between the positive x-axis and the line OP', measured
counterclockwise.
h is the same as z.
Thus, the conversion function f from cylindrical coordinates to Cartesian

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The cylindrical coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system which

essentially extends circular polar coordinates by adding a third coordinate (usually
denoted h) which measures the height of a point above the plane.

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coordinates is

Fig 1.4 :A point plotted with cylindrical coordinates

Spherical Coordinates

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The three coordinates (, , ) are defined as:

0 is the distance from the origin to a given point P.

0 2 is the angle between the positive x-axis and the line from the origin to
the P projected onto the xy-plane.
0 is the angle between the positive z-axis and the line formed between the
origin and P.

is referred to as the azimuth, while is referred to as the zenith, colatitude or polar

angle.

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and and lose significance when = 0 and loses significance when sin() = 0 (at =
0 and = 180).

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To plot a point from its spherical coordinates, go units from the origin along the
positive z-axis, rotate about the y-axis in the direction of the positive x-axis and rotate
about the z-axis in the direction of the positive y-axis.

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Coordinate system conversions

As the spherical coordinate system is only one of many three-dimensional coordinate

systems, there exist equations for converting coordinates between the spherical
coordinate system and others.

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Cartesian coordinate system

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The three spherical coordinates are obtained from Cartesian coordinates by:

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Note that the arctangent must be defined suitably so as to take account of the correct
quadrant of y / x. The atan2 or equivalent function accomplishes this for computational
purposes.
Conversely, Cartesian coordinates may be retrieved from spherical coordinates by:

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Divergence of a Vector Field:

In study of vector fields, directed line segments, also called flux lines or streamlines,
represent field variations graphically. The intensity of the field is proportional to the density of
lines. For example, the number of flux lines passing through a unit surface S normal to the
vector measures the vector field strength.

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We have already defined flux of a vector field as

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Fig 1.5: Flux Lines

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For a volume enclosed by a surface,

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....................................................(1.1)

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.........................................................................................(1.2)

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We define the divergence of a vector field at a point P as the net outward flux from a
volume enclosing P, as the volume shrinks to zero.

Here

.................................................................(1.3)

is the volume that encloses P and S is the corresponding closed surface.

Let us consider a differential volume centered on point P(u,v,w) in a vector field

through an elementary area normal to u is given by ,

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........................................(1.4)

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. The flux

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Fig 1.6 Evaluation of divergence in curvilinear coordinate

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Net outward flux along u can be calculated considering the two elementary surfaces perpendicular to u .

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.......................................(1.5)
Considering the contribution from all six surfaces that enclose the volume, we can write

.......................................(1.6)

Hence for the Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical polar coordinate system, the expressions for divergence can be
written as:

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In Cartesian coordinates:

................................(1.7)

In cylindrical coordinates:

....................................................................(1.8)

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In connection with the divergence of a vector field, the following can be noted
Divergence of a vector field gives a scalar.

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......................................(1.9)

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..............................................................................(1.10)

Divergence theorem :

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Divergence theorem states that the volume integral of the divergence of vector field is equal
to the net outward flux of the vector through the closed surface that bounds the volume.
Mathematically,

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Proof:

Let us consider a volume V enclosed by a surface S . Let us subdivide the volume in large

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number of cells. Let the kth cell has a volume

and the corresponding surface is denoted
by Sk. Interior to the volume, cells have common surfaces. Outward flux through these
common surfaces from one cell becomes the inward flux for the neighboring cells. Therefore
when the total flux from these cells are considered, we actually get the net outward flux
through the surface surrounding the volume. Hence we can write:

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In the limit, that is when

written as

Hence we get

......................................(1.11)
and

the right hand of the expression can be

, which is the divergence theorem.

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and in spherical polar coordinates:

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We have defined the circulation of a vector field A around a closed path as

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Curl of a vector field is a measure of the vector field's tendency to rotate about a point. Curl

Curl of a vector field:

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, also written as
is defined as a vector whose magnitude is maximum of the net
circulation per unit area when the area tends to zero and its direction is the normal direction
to the area when the area is oriented in such a way so as to make the circulation maximum.

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Therefore, we can write:

......................................(1.12)
To derive the expression for curl in generalized curvilinear coordinate system, we first
and to do so let us consider the figure 1.7:

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compute

If C1 represents the boundary of

Fig 1.7 Curl of a Vector

, then we can write

......................................(1.13)

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The integrals on the RHS can be evaluated as follows:

.................................(1.14)

................................................(1.15)

The negative sign is because of the fact that the direction of traversal reverses. Similarly,

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..................................................(1.16)

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............................................................................(1.17)

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Adding the contribution from all components, we can write:

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........................................................................(1.18)

......................................................(1.19)

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This can be written as,

In Cartesian coordinates:

and

we can write,

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In the same manner if we compute for

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Therefore,

.......(1.20)

......................................................(1.21)

.......................................(1.22)

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....................................(1.23)

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In Cylindrical coordinates,

..............(1.24)

Stoke's theorem :

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Curl operation exhibits the following properties:

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In Spherical polar coordinates,

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It states that the circulation of a vector field

..............(1.25)

around a closed path is equal to the integral of

over the surface bounded by this path. It may be noted that this equality holds

provided

and

are continuous on the surface.

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i.e,

..............(1.26)

Proof:Let us consider an area S that is subdivided into large number of cells as shown in the
figure 1.8

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Fig 1.8 Stokes theorem

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Let kthcell has surface area

and is bounded path Lk while the total area is
bounded by path L. As seen from the figure that if we evaluate the sum of the line
integrals around the elementary areas, there is cancellation along every interior
path and we are left the line integral along path L. Therefore we can write,

..............(1.27)
As

.............(1.28)

which is the stoke's theorem.

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Coulomb's Law

Coulomb's Law may be stated as follows:

"The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point charges is directly
proportional to the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the square
of the distance between the charges."
Coulomb's law states that the electrical force between two charged objects is directly
proportional to the product of the quantity of charge on the objects and inversely

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proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two objects. In equation
form, Coulomb's law can be stated as

(1.29)

Mathematically,

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where Q1 represents the quantity of charge on object 1 (in Coulombs), Q2 represents the
quantity of charge on object 2 (in Coulombs), and d represents the distance of separation
between the two objects (in meters). The symbol k is a proportionality constant known as
the Coulomb's law constant. The value of this constant is dependent upon the medium
that the charged objects are immersed in.

,where k is the proportionality constant.

is called the permittivity of free space.

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Force F is in Newtons (N) and

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In SI units, Q1 and Q2 are expressed in Coulombs(C) and R is in meters.

(We are assuming the charges are in free space. If the charges are any other dielectric
is called the relative permittivity or the

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medium, we will use

instead where
dielectric constant of the medium).

Therefore

.......................(1.30)

As shown in the Figure 2.1 let the position vectors of the point charges Q1and Q2 are given
and

. Let

represent the force on Q1 due to charge Q2.

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by

Fig 1.9: Coulomb's Law

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The charges are separated by a distance of

. We define the unit vectors

..................................(1.31)

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can be defined as

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and

as

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. ..(1.32)

Similarly the force on Q1 due to charge Q2 can be calculated and if

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then we can write

represents this force

When we have a number of point charges, to determine the force on a particular charge due
to all other charges, we apply principle of superposition. If we have N number of charges

, the force experienced by a charge Q located at

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,......

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Q1,Q2,.........QN located respectively at the points represented by the position vectors

is given by,

.................................(1.33)

Electric Field

The electric field intensity or the electric field strength at a point is defined as the force per
unit charge. That is

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or,

.......................................(1.34)

The electric field intensity E at a point r (observation point) due a point charge Q located at
(source point) is given by:

..........................................(1.35)

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,......

, the electric field intensity at point

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For a collection of N point charges Q1 ,Q2 ,.........QN located at

obtained as

The expression (2.6) can be modified suitably to

compute the electric filed due to a continuous
distribution of charges.

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In figure 1.10we consider a continuous volume

distribution of charge (t) in the region denoted as the
source region.

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........................................(1.36)

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For an elementary charge

, i.e.
considering this charge as point charge, we can write
the field expression as:

Fig1.10: Continuous Volume Distribution

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.............(2.7)

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When this expression is integrated over the source region, we get the electric field at the
point P due to this distribution of charges. Thus the expression for the electric field at P can
be written as:

..........................................(1.37)

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Similar technique can be adopted when the charge distribution is in the form of a line charge
density or a surface charge density.

........................................(1.38)

........................................(1.39)

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Electric field strength

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Electric field strength is a vector quantity; it has both magnitude and direction. The
magnitude of the electric field strength is defined in terms of how it is measured. Let's
suppose that an electric charge can be denoted by the
symbol Q. This electric charge creates an electric field;
since Q is the source of the electric field, we will refer to
it as the source charge. The strength of the source
charge's electric field could be measured by any other
charge placed somewhere in its surroundings. The charge
that is used to measure the electric field strength is referred to as a test charge since it is
used to test the field strength. The test charge has a quantity of charge denoted by the
symbol q. When placed within the electric field, the test charge will experience an
electric force - either attractive or repulsive. As is usually the case, this force will be
denoted by the symbol F. The magnitude of the electric field is simply defined as the
force per charge on the test charge.

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If the electric field strength is denoted by the symbol E, then the equation can be
rewritten in symbolic form as

The standard metric units on electric field strength arise from its definition. Since electric
field is defined as a force per charge, its units would be force units divided by charge
units. In this case, the standard metric units are Newton/Coulomb or N/C.

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Electric Field Lines

The magnitude or strength of an electric field in the space surrounding a source charge is
related directly to the quantity of charge on the source charge and inversely to the
distance from the source charge. The direction of the electric field is always directed in
the direction that a positive test charge would be pushed or pulled if placed in the space
surrounding the source charge. Since electric field is a vector quantity, it can be
represented by a vector arrow. For any given location, the arrows point in the direction of
the electric field and their length is proportional to the strength of the electric field at that
location. Such vector arrows are shown in the diagram below. Note that the length of the
arrows are longer when closer to the source charge and shorter when further from the
source charge.

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A more useful means of visually representing the vector nature of an electric field is
through the use of electric field lines of force. Rather than draw countless vector arrows
in the space surrounding a source charge, it is perhaps more useful to draw a pattern of
several lines which extend between infinity and the source charge. These pattern of lines,
sometimes referred to as electric field lines, point in the direction which a positive test
charge would accelerate if placed upon the line. As such, the lines are directed away from
positively charged source charges and toward negatively charged source charges. To
communicate information about the direction of the field, each line must include an
arrowhead which points in the appropriate direction. An electric field line pattern could
include an infinite number of lines. Because drawing such large quantities of lines tends
to decrease the readability of the patterns, the number of lines are usually limited. The
presence of a few lines around a charge is typically sufficient to convey the nature of the
electric field in the space surrounding the lines.

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Electric Fields and Conductors

Electrostatic equilibrium is the condition established by charged conductors in which
the excess charge has optimally distanced itself so as to reduce the total amount of
repulsive forces. Once a charged conductor has reached the state of electrostatic
equilibrium, there is no further motion of charge about the surface.

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Electric Fields Inside of Charged Conductors

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Charged conductors which have reached electrostatic equilibrium share a variety of

unusual characteristics. One characteristic of a conductor at electrostatic equilibrium is
that the electric field anywhere beneath the surface of a charged conductor is zero. If an
electric field did exist beneath the surface of a conductor (and inside of it), then the
electric field would exert a force on all electrons that were present there. This net force
would begin to accelerate and move these electrons. But objects at electrostatic
equilibrium have no further motion of charge about the surface. So if this were to occur,
then the original claim that the object was at electrostatic equilibrium would be a false
claim. If the electrons within a conductor have assumed an equilibrium state, then the net
force upon those electrons is zero. The electric field lines either begin or end upon a
charge and in the case of a conductor, the charge exists solely upon its outer surface. The
lines extend from this surface outward, not inward. This of course presumes that our
conductor does not surround a region of space where there was another charge.

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To illustrate this characteristic, let's consider the space between and inside of two
concentric, conducting cylinders of different radii as shown in the diagram at the right.
The outer cylinder is charged positively. The inner cylinder is
charged negatively. The electric field about the inner cylinder
is directed towards the negatively charged cylinder. Since this
cylinder does not surround a region of space where there is
another charge, it can be concluded that the excess charge
resides solely upon the outer surface of this inner cylinder. The
electric field inside the inner cylinder would be zero. When
drawing electric field lines, the lines would be drawn from the
inner surface of the outer cylinder to the outer surface of the
inner cylinder. For the excess charge on the outer cylinder, there is more to consider than
merely the repulsive forces between charges on its surface. While the excess charge on
the outer cylinder seeks to reduce repulsive forces between its excess charge, it must
balance this with the tendency to be attracted to the negative charges on the inner
cylinder. Since the outer cylinder surrounds a region which is charged, the characteristic
of charge residing on the outer surface of the conductor does not apply.
This concept of the electric field being zero inside of a closed conducting surface was
first demonstrated by Michael Faraday, a 19th century physicist who promoted the field
theory of electricity. Faraday constructed a room within a room, covering the inner room
with a metal foil. He sat inside the inner room with an electroscope and charged the
surfaces of the outer and inner room using an electrostatic generator. While sparks were
seen flying between the walls of the two rooms, there was no detection of an electric field
within the inner room. The excess charge on the walls of the inner room resided entirely
upon the outer surface of the room.
The inner room with the conducting frame which protected Faraday from the static
charge is now referred to as a Faraday's cage. The cage serves to shield whomever and
whatever is on the inside from the influence of electric fields. Any closed, conducting
surface can serve as a Faraday's cage, shielding whatever it surrounds from the

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potentially damaging affects of electric fields. This principle of shielding is commonly

utilized today as we protect delicate electrical equipment by enclosing them in metal
cases. Even delicate computer chips and other components are shipped inside of
conducting plastic packaging which shields the chips from potentially damaging affects
of electric fields.
Electric Fields are Perpendicular to Charged Surfaces

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A second characteristic of conductors at electrostatic equilibrium is that the electric field

upon the surface of the conductor is directed entirely perpendicular to the surface. There
cannot be a component of electric field (or electric force) that is parallel to the surface. If
the conducting object is spherical, then this means that the perpendicular electric field
vector are aligned with the center of the sphere. If the object is irregularly shaped, then
the electric field vector at any location is perpendicular to a tangent line drawn to the
surface at that location.

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Understanding why this characteristic is true demands an understanding of vectors, force

and motion. The motion of electrons, like any physical object, is governed by Newton's
laws. One outcome of Newton's laws was that unbalanced forces cause objects to
accelerate in the direction of the unbalanced force and a balance of forces cause objects
to remain at equilibrium. This truth provides the foundation for the rationale behind why
electric fields must be directed perpendicular to the surface of conducting objects. If there
were a component of electric field directed parallel to the surface, then the excess charge
on the surface would be forced into accelerated motion by this component. If a charge is
set into motion, then the object upon which it is on is not in a state of electrostatic
equilibrium. Therefore, the electric field must be entirely perpendicular to the conducting
surface for objects which are at electrostatic equilibrium. Certainly a conducting object
which has recently acquired an excess charge has a component of electric field (and
electric force) parallel to the surface; it is this component which acts upon the newly
acquired excess charge to distribute the excess charge over the surface and establish
electrostatic equilibrium. But once reached, there is no longer any parallel component of
electric field and no longer any motion of excess charge.

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Electric Fields and Surface Curvature

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A third characteristic of conducting objects at electrostatic equilibrium is that the electric

fields are strongest at locations along the surface where the object is most curved. The
curvature of a surface can range from absolute flatness on one extreme to being curved to
a blunt point on the other extreme.

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A flat location has no curvature and is characterized by relatively weak electric fields. On
the other hand, a blunt point has a high degree of curvature and is characterized by
relatively strong electric fields. A sphere is uniformly shaped with the same curvature at
every location along its surface. As such, the electric field strength on the surface of a
sphere is everywhere the same.

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To understand the rationale for this third characteristic, we will consider an irregularly
shaped object which is negatively charged. Such an object has an excess of electrons.
These electrons would distribute themselves in such a manner as to reduce the affect of
their repulsive forces. Since electrostatic forces vary inversely with the
square of the distance, these electrons would tend to position themselves
so as to increase their distance from one another. On a regularly shaped
sphere, the ultimate distance between every neighboring electron would
be the same. But on an irregularly shaped object, excess electrons would
tend to accumulate in greater density along locations of greatest
curvature. Consider the diagram at the right. Electrons A and B are
located along a flatter section of the surface. Like all well-behaved
electrons, they repel each other. The repulsive forces are directed along
a line connecting charge to charge, making the repulsive force primarily parallel to the
surface. On the other hand, electrons C and D are located along a section of the surface
with a sharper curvature. These excess electrons also repel each other with a force
directed along a line connecting charge to charge. But now the force is directed at a
sharper angle to the surface. The components of these forces parallel to the surface are
considerably less. A majority of the repulsive force between electrons C and D is directed
perpendicular to the surface.
The parallel components of these repulsive forces is what causes excess electrons to
move along the surface of the conductor. The electrons will move and distribute
themselves until electrostatic equilibrium is reached. Once reached, the resultant of all
parallel components on any given excess electron (and on all excess electrons) will add
up to zero. All the parallel components of force on each of the electrons must be zero
since the net force parallel to the surface of the conductor is always zero (the second
characteristic discussed above). For the same separation distance, the parallel component

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of force is greatest in the case of electrons A and B. So to acquire this balance of parallel
forces, electrons A and B must distance themselves further from each other than electrons
C and D. Electrons C and D on the other hand can crowd closer together at their location
since that the parallel component of repulsive forces is less. In the end, a relatively large
quantity of charge accumulates on the locations of greatest curvature. This larger quantity
of charge combined with the fact that their repulsive forces are primarily directed
perpendicular to the surface results in a considerably stronger electric field at such
locations of increased curvature.

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The fact that surfaces which are sharply curved to a blunt edge create strong electric
fields is the underlying principle for the use of lightning rods.
Electric scalar Potential

In the previous sections we have seen how the electric field

intensity due to a charge or a charge distribution can be found
using Coulomb's law or Gauss's law. Since a charge placed in the
vicinity of another charge (or in other words in the field of other
charge) experiences a force, the movement of the charge
represents energy exchange. Electrostatic potential is related to the
work done in carrying a charge from one point to the other in the
presence of an electric field.

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Let us suppose that we wish to move a positive test charge

from a point P to another point Q as shown in the Fig. 1.11
The force at any point along its path would cause the particle to
accelerate and move it out of the region if unconstrained. Since we
are dealing with an electrostatic case, a force equal to the negative
of that acting on the charge is to be applied while
moves from P
to Q. The work done by this external agent in moving the charge by
a distance

Fig 1.11 Movement of Test Charge in Electric

Field

is given by:

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.....................................(1.41)

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The negative sign accounts for the fact that work is done on the system by the external
agent.

.............................(1.40)

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The potential difference between two points P and Q , VPQ, is defined as the work done per
unit charge, i.e.

...............................(1.42)

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It may be noted that in moving a charge from the initial point to the final point if the potential
difference is positive, there is a gain in potential energy in the movement, external agent
performs the work against the field. If the sign of the potential difference is negative, work is
done by the field.

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We will see that the electrostatic system is conservative in that no net energy is exchanged if
the test charge is moved about a closed path, i.e. returning to its initial position. Further, the
potential difference between two points in an electrostatic field is a point function; it is
independent of the path taken. The potential difference is measured in Joules/Coulomb
which is referred to as Volts.

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Let us consider a point charge Q as shown in the Fig. 1.12

Fig 1.12 Electrostatic Potential calculation for a point charge

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Further consider the two points A and B as shown in the Fig.1.12. Considering the movement
of a unit positive test charge from B to A , we can write an expression for the potential
difference as:

..................................(1.43)

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s.

It is customary to choose the potential to be zero at infinity. Thus potential at any point ( rA =
r) due to a point charge Q can be written as the amount of work done in bringing a unit
positive charge from infinity to that point (i.e. rB = 0).

..................................(1.44)

no

Or, in other words,

..................................(1.45)

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Let us now consider a situation where the point charge Q is not located at the origin as
shown in Fig. 1.13.

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Fig 1.13: Electrostatic Potential due a Displaced Charge

The potential at a point P becomes

..................................(1.46)
So far we have considered the potential due to point charges only. As any other type of
charge distribution can be considered to be consisting of point charges, the same basic
ideas now can be extended to other types of charge distribution also.

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,......

. The potential at a point having position vector

can be written as:

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Let us first consider N point charges Q1, Q2,.....QN located at points with position vectors

s.

..................................(1.47)

or,

...........................................................(1.48)

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For continuous charge distribution, we replace point charges Qn by corresponding charge

..................................(1.49)

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For line charge,

no

elements
or
or
depending on whether the charge distribution is linear,
surface or a volume charge distribution and the summation is replaced by an integral. With
these modifications we can write:

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For surface charge,

For volume charge,

.................................(1.50)

.................................(1.51)

It may be noted here that the primed coordinates represent the source coordinates and the
unprimed coordinates represent field point.

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Further, in our discussion so far we have used the reference or zero potential at infinity. If
any other point is chosen as reference, we can write:

.................................(1.52)
where C is a constant. In the same manner when potential is computed from a known electric
field we can write:

.................................(1.53)
The potential difference is however independent of the choice of reference.

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.......................(1.54)

s.

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We have mentioned that electrostatic field is a conservative field; the work done in moving a
charge from one point to the other is independent of the path. Let us consider moving a
charge from point P1 to P2 in one path and then from point P2 back to P1 over a different path.
If the work done on the two paths were different, a net positive or negative amount of work
would have been done when the body returns to its original position P1. In a conservative
field there is no mechanism for dissipating energy corresponding to any positive work neither
any source is present from which energy could be absorbed in the case of negative work.
Hence the question of different works in two paths is untenable, the work must have to be
independent of path and depends on the initial and final positions.

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Since the potential difference is independent of the paths taken, VAB = - VBA , and over a
closed path,

no

.................................(1.55)

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Applying Stokes's theorem, we can write:

............................(1.56)

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from which it follows that for electrostatic field,

Any vector field

that satisfies

........................................(1.57)
is called an irrotational field.

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From our definition of potential, we can write

.................................(1.58)
from which we obtain,
..........................................(1.59)

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From the foregoing discussions we observe that the electric field strength at any point is the negative of the poten

contain all the information that three components of

possible because of the fact that three components of

Example: Electric Dipole

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may note here that that one scalar function

gradient at any point, negative sign shows that is directed from higher to lower values of . This gives us ano
method of computing the electric field, i. e. if we know the potential function, the electric field may be computed. W

are interrelated by the relation

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As shown in figure 1.14, the

dipole is formed by the two
point charges Q and -Q
separated by a distance d , the
charges being placed
symmetrically about the origin.
Let us consider a point P at a
distance r, where we are
interested to find the field.

s.

An electric dipole consists of

two point charges of equal
magnitude but of opposite sign
and separated by a small
distance.

Fig 1.14 : Electric Dipole

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The potential at P due to the dipole can be written as:

When r1 and r2>>d, we can write

..........................(1.60)

and

Therefore,

....................................................(1.62)

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We can write,

...............................................(1.63)
The quantity

is called the dipole moment of the electric dipole.

Hence the expression for the electric potential can now be written as:

................................(1.64)

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carry, the sa

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........................(1.65)

, the expression for

s.

If the dipole is not centered at the origin, but the dipole center lies at
the potential can be written as:

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The electric field for the dipole centered at the origin can be computed as

........................(1.66)

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is the magnitude of the dipole moment. Once again we note that the electric field of
electric dipole varies as 1/r3 where as that of a point charge varies as 1/r2.
Electric flux density:

As stated earlier electric field intensity or simply Electric field' gives the strength of the field
at a particular point. The electric field depends on the material media in which the field is
being considered. The flux density vector is defined to be independent of the material media
(as we'll see that it relates to the charge that is producing it).For a linear

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isotropic medium under consideration; the flux density vector is defined as:
................................................(1.67)

We define the electric flux as

.....................................(1.68)
Gauss's Law: Gauss's law is one of the fundamental laws of electromagnetism and it states
that the total electric flux through a closed surface is equal to the total charge enclosed by
the surface.

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It may be noted that while potential of an isolated charge varies with distance as 1/r that of
an electric dipole varies as 1/r2 with distance.

s.

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Fig 1.15 Gauss's Law

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Let us consider a point charge Q located in an isotropic homogeneous medium of dielectric

constant . The flux density at a distance r on a surface enclosing the charge is given by

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...............................................(1.69)

.....................................(1.70)

, is the elementary solid angle subtended by the area

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But

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If we consider an elementary area ds, the amount of flux passing through the elementary
area is given by

at the location of

Q. Therefore we can write

For a closed surface enclosing the charge, we can write

which can seen to be same as what we have stated in the definition of Gauss's Law.

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Application of Gauss's Law

Gauss's law is particularly useful in computing or where the charge distribution has
some symmetry. We shall illustrate the application of Gauss's Law with some examples.
1.An infinite line charge
As the first example of illustration of use of Gauss's law, let consider the problem of
determination of the electric field produced by an infinite line charge of density LC/m. Let us
consider a line charge positioned along the z-axis as shown in Fig.1.16(a) (next slide). Since
the line charge is assumed to be infinitely long, the electric field will be of the form as shown
in Fig. 2.4(b) (next slide).

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.....................................(1.71)

Considering the fact that the unit normal vector to areas S1 and S3 are perpendicular to the
electric field, the surface integrals for the top and bottom surfaces evaluates to zero. Hence

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no

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s.

we can write,

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If we consider a close cylindrical surface as shown in Fig.1.16(a), using Gauss's theorm we

can write,

Fig 1.16 Infinite Line Charge

.....................................(1.72)

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2. Infinite Sheet of Charge

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As a second example of application of Gauss's

theorem, we consider an infinite charged sheet
covering the x-z plane as shown in figure 1.17
Assuming a surface charge density of
for the
infinite surface charge, if we consider a cylindrical

..............(1.73)

s.

placed symmetrically , we

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volume having sides

can write:

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Fig1.17: Infinite Sheet of Charge

It may be noted that the electric field strength is independent of distance. This is true for the infinite plane of
charge; electric lines of force on either side of the charge will be perpendicular to the sheet and extend to

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infinity as parallel lines. As number of lines of force per unit area gives the strength of the field, the field

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becomes independent of distance. For a finite charge sheet, the field will be a function of distance.

3. Uniformly Charged Sphere

Let us consider a sphere of radius r0 having a uniform

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volume charge density of v C/m3. To determine

everywhere, inside and outside the sphere, we
construct Gaussian surfaces of radius r < r0 and r >
r0 as shown in Fig. 1.18(a) and Fig.1.18(b).
For the region
be

; the total enclosed charge will

.........................(1.74)

Fig 1.18 Uniformly Charged Sphere

By applying Gauss's theorem,

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For the region

; the total enclosed charge will be

s.

...............................................(1.76)

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....................................................................(1.77)

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By applying Gauss's theorem,

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Therefore

...............(1.75)

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.....................................................(1.78)

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