Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II

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3.1 Capacitors

Capacitance is defined as: the ratio of the magnitude of the charge on either conductor to the magnitude of
the potential difference between them. A capacitor consists of two conductors where the space in between
them is filled with a di-electric. The electric field inside a di-electric is different from the electric field in
free space. We consider only isotropic and homogeneous di-electrics, where the polarization P has the same
direction as the electric field E. We will discuss the term polarization in the section on di-electrics. The
formula for capacitance is given below, where Q is the magnitude of the charge on either conductor and V0
is the potential difference between the two conductors.

Q
C= . (3.1)
V0

Figure 3.1: Capacitor

Furthermore, infinite parallel plates having a surface charge of ±ρs gives rise to a uniform electric field
E. The magnitude of this field is ρS , where the  is the permittivity of the di-electric. Then, the potential
difference between the two conductor plates for the capacitor shown in Figure 3.1 can be calculated as below:

3-1
3-2 Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II

ˆ lower
V0 = − E · dL
upper
ˆ 0
ρS
= − dz (3.2)
d 
ρS
= d


Let us take two parallel conductors of finite dimension having a surface area of S with a separation of d.
If we ignore the non-uniformity of the field and the charge density closer to the edges the capacity of this
capacitor can be given by the following expression:

S
C= (3.3)
d
´
The energy stored in a capacitor WE = 12 vol D · Edv. The quantity D · E or E 2 is known as energy density.
Since, D = E the energy stored can be calculated as below:

ˆ
1
WE = E 2 dv
2
ˆ ˆ
1 S d ρ2s 
= dzdS (3.4)
2 0 0 2
1
= CV 2
2 0

3.2 Linear dielectric media

When an electric field is applied to linear dielectric media it results in a dipole moment of its molecules.
This dipole moment of a molecule can be represented by the vector p. If the charge on the positive side of
the dipole is Q and the vector from the the negative charge to the positive charge is d, the equation below
gives an expression for the dipole moment.

p = Qd (3.5)

If we have n dipoles per unit volume and we are concerned with a volume δv. The total dipole moment in
that volume can be obtained by:

n∆v
X
ptotal = pi (3.6)
i=1

Now let us define the polarization of the di-electric as the dipole moment per unit volume.

n∆v
1 X
P = lim pi (3.7)
∆v→0 ∆v
i=1
Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II 3-3

Due to the presence of this dipole moment of the bound molecules, the flux density D can be represented
by:

D = 0 E + P (3.8)

Here, P is governed only by the polar molecules (bound charges). These molecules rotate when there is an
electric field present. Then the flux density only depends on the free charges. Making use of these facts and
the divergence theorem we can come up with the following formulae:

∇ · P = −ρb (3.9)
∇ · 0 E = ρ T (3.10)
∇·D = ρv (3.11)

Here after we are considering only isotropic di-electrics where E and P are linearly related.

P = χe 0 E (3.12)

χe is a dimensionless quantity known by the name electric susceptibility. Then, if (χe + 1) = r , the
relationship between the flux density D and the electric field in a dielectric media can be given as:

D = 0 r E (3.13)

3.3 Boundary conditions

3.3.1 Boundary conditions for conductors

The tangential density of flux magnitude Dt and the tangential electric field Et is zero in the presence of
a static electric field. Then the magnitude of normal density of flux is related to the magnitude of electric
field in free space as per the following equation, where ρS is the surface charge density.

DN = 0 EN = ρS (3.14)

The conductors shows the following properties in the presence of electrostatic fields:

1. The static electric field intensity inside a conductor is zero

2. The static electric field intensity at the surface of a conductor is everywhere directed normal to that
surface

3. Conductor surface is an equipotential surface.

3-4 Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II

Figure 3.2: Dielectric Boundary

3.3.2 Boundary conditions for perfect dielectrics

Let us assume boundary between two dielectrics having permittivities 1 and 2 as shown in the Figure 3.2.
The following relationships are true for the interface between two dielectrics.

Etan1 = Etan2 (3.15)

DN 1 = DN 2 (3.16)

The boundary conditions existing at the interface between the conductor and dielectrics are mentioned below:

Etan = Dtan = 0 (3.17)

DN = EN = ρS (3.18)

3.4 Capacitance examples

3.4.1 Coaxial cable

Capacitance of a coaxial cable of length L having an inner radius a and the outer radius b can be calculated
as below. The electric field of a line charge is given by:

ρL
E= aρ (3.19)
2πρ

The potential difference between the two conductors of the coaxial cable is given by (using cylindrical
coordinates):
Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II 3-5

ˆ b
V = − E · dL
a
ˆ b
ρL
= − dρ
a 2πρ
 
ρL b
= log (3.20)
2π a

Capacitance can be found dividing this potential difference, V , by the charge contained in the coaxial cable
of length L, ρL L.

2πL
C= (3.21)
log(b/a)

3.4.2 Spherical capacitor

A spherical capacitor is formed of two concentric spherical conducting shells of radii a and b respectively,
where b > a. The gap between the shells are filled with a dielectric of permitivity . The electric field
intensity E at the gap at radius r is given by:

Q
E= ar (3.22)
4πr2

Then the potential difference between the conducting shells (using spherical coordinates) is given by:

ˆ b
V = − E · dL
a
ˆ b
Q
= − 2
dr
a 4πr
 
Q 1 1
= − (3.23)
4π a b

Then the capacitance C is given by:

4π
C= 1 (3.24)
a − 1b

3.4.3 Capacitor with two dielectrics

A parallel plate capacitor is filled with two dielectrics as shown below:

1
This capacitor can be treated as two capacitors in series, where the resultant capacitance is given by 1
+ C1
.
C1 2
S
The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is d
3-6 Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II

Figure 3.3: Two dielectric capacitor

3.5 Energy density in the electrostatic field

When we bring a positive charge to a place which already has positively charged particles present we have
to do some work. This work is stored on the charge as potential energy. This energy can be calculated for
a continuous charge distribution using the following equation, where ρv is the charge density and V is the
potential due to the charges:

ˆ
1
WE = ρv V dv (3.25)
2 vol

Then using some vector identities and the relationship between the charge density and the flux density
(ρv = ∇ · D), the electrostatic energy stored can be calculated using the relationship below.

ˆ
1
WE = D · Edv
2 vol
ˆ
1
= E 2 dv (3.26)
2 vol

Therefore, E 2 and D · E gives energy density.

3.6 Poisson’s and Laplace’s equations

These equations enable us to find potential fields within regions where the potentials or the charge densities
are known.

3.6.1 Poisson’s equation

The mathematical equation of the Poisson’s equation is given below:

ρv
∇ · ∇V = − (3.27)

The operation ∇ · ∇ is abbreviated as ∇2 . The expansions of this new operator in rectangular, cylindrical
and spherical coordinate systems are given in equations (3.28), (3.29) and (3.30) respectively.
Lecture 3: Electrostatic Fields II 3-7

∂2V ∂2V ∂2V

∇2 V = + + (3.28)
∂x2 ∂y 2 ∂z 2

1 ∂2V ∂2V
 
2 1 ∂ ∂V
∇ V = ρ + + (3.29)
ρ ∂ρ ∂ρ ρ2 ∂φ2 ∂z 2

∂2V
   
1 ∂ ∂V 1 ∂ ∂V 1
∇2 V = r2 + 2 sinθ + 2 2 (3.30)
r2 ∂r ∂r r sin θ ∂θ ∂θ r sin θ ∂φ2

3.6.2 Laplace’s equation

If the volume charge density ρv of the Poisson’s equation is zero but there are point charges, line charge or
surface charge densities present, we can use the Laplace equation. The mathematical representation of this
equation is given below:

∇2 V = 0 (3.31)

Since many different problems will have the same Laplace’s equation, the unique solution can only be found
based on the boundary conditions.

References
[William2012] W. H. Hayt and J. A. Buck, “Engineering Electromagnetics 8th Edition,” Mc Graw-Hill,
2012, ISBN 978-0-07-338066-7.