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MIT6 007S11 Lec05 PDF

This document summarizes key concepts from a reading about electrostatics and Maxwell's equations in free space with electric charges present. It discusses Maxwell's equations in differential and integral form, Gauss' law, boundary conditions at surfaces, and the storage of electrostatic energy. Key points covered include that the electric field is discontinuous at a surface charge, but continuous tangentially; the energy stored in an electric field per unit volume; and modeling atoms and molecules as capacitors that store energy.

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Vageesha Shantha Veerabhadra Swamy
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165 views22 pages

MIT6 007S11 Lec05 PDF

This document summarizes key concepts from a reading about electrostatics and Maxwell's equations in free space with electric charges present. It discusses Maxwell's equations in differential and integral form, Gauss' law, boundary conditions at surfaces, and the storage of electrostatic energy. Key points covered include that the electric field is discontinuous at a surface charge, but continuous tangentially; the energy stored in an electric field per unit volume; and modeling atoms and molecules as capacitors that store energy.

Uploaded by

Vageesha Shantha Veerabhadra Swamy
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Electrostatics

(Free Space With Charges & Conductors)


Reading - Shen and Kong Ch. 9

Outline

Maxwells Equations (In Free Space)


Gauss Law & Faradays Law
Applications of Gauss Law
Electrostatic Boundary Conditions
Electrostatic Energy Storage
1

Maxwells Equations (in Free Space with Electric Charges present)


DIFFERENTIAL FORM

INTEGRAL FORM

E-Gauss:
Faraday:
H-Gauss:
Ampere:

Static arise when

, and Maxwells Equations split into decoupled


electrostatic and magnetostatic eqns.
Electro-quasistatic and magneto-quasitatic systems arise when one (but not
both) time derivative becomes important.
Note that the Differential and Integral forms of Maxwells Equations are related through
Stokes Theorem

and
Gauss Theorem
2

Charges and Currents

There can be a nonzero charge density

Charge
conservation
and KCL for
ideal nodes

in the absence of a current density

There can be a nonzero current density

in the absence of a charge density .

Gauss Law

Flux of

through closed surface S = net charge inside V

Point Charge Example

Apply Gauss Law in integral form


making use of symmetry to find

Assume that the image charge is


uniformly distributed at
.
Why is this important ?
Symmetry
5

Gauss Law Tells Us


the electric charge can reside only on the surface of the conductor.
[If charge was present inside a conductor, we can draw a Gaussian surface around
that charge and the electric field in vicinity of that charge would be non-zero !
A non-zero field implies current flow through the conductor, which will transport the
charge to the surface.]
there is no charge at all on the inner surface of a hollow conductor.
that, if a charge carrying body has a sharp point, then the electric field at that
point is much stronger than the electric field over the smoother part of the body.

Lets show this by considering


two spheres of different size,
connected by a long, thin wire

SPHERE B

SPHERE A

WIRE

Because the two spheres are far apart, we can


assume that charges are uniformly distributed
across the surfaces of the two spheres,
with charge qa on the surface of sphere A
and qb on the surface of sphere B

and the E-field on the surface of the spheres is:

Note that Ea >>7 Eb if b >> a

from Shen and Kong

Image by http://www.flickr.com/photos/
zokuga/5817408342/ on flickr

Lightning Rod
When a conductive body
contains sharp points,
the electric field on
these points is much
stronger than that on the
smooth part of the
conducting body.

Lighting Rods are connected to the ground. When a cloud


carrying electric charges approaches, the rod attracts opposite
charges from the ground. The Electric field at the tip of the
rod is much stronger than anywhere else. When the E-field
exceeds the
air breakdown strength (of 33 kV/cm), charges start to travel
to ground.
8

Modern demo of Gordons bells [Andrew Gordon (1742)]

http://www.arcsandsparks.com/franklin.html
Courtesy of PV Scientific Instruments. Used with permission.
9

Faradays Law
Dynamic form:
Static form:
and

Path I

Path II

Path I

Path II

A unique path-independent potential


may be defined if and only if
10

Boundary Conditions

Normal

is discontinuous at a surface charge.

Tangential

A static field terminates


perpendicularly on a conductor

11

is continuous at a surface.

Point Charges Near Perfect Conductors

Time t = 0

+ +
+ -

- +
- +
+ -

+
+
+ -

+ - +
+

- +
- +
+ +
- +
- +

+ +
+ - - + + + -

- +
+- +

Time t >> 0
- + - + - +

- +- +
+12-

+ - -+
-+
- - + -+
+

+
++

Point Charges Near Perfect Conductors

+
+ +++
+ +++

- - -- -- - --- -- -- + + + +

+ +++
+ +++
Negative charge on top
surface of conductor

Positive charge on
top and bottom
surface of
conductor
13

Uniqueness and Equivalent Image Charges

+ +++

- - -- -- - --- -- -- -

+ +++

Equivalent Image Charge

14

Electrostatic Boundary Conditions

There is a jump in the normal electric field as


one passes through a surface charge

Tangential field is continuous


15

Energy Stored in
Electric Fields
1. Begin with a neutral
reference conductor, the
charge reservoir. Its
potential is zero, by
definition.
2. Move charges from the
reference conductor into
free space, thereby creating
an electric field and doing
work in the process. The
work is stored as potential
energy in the electric fields.

The work done by moving charge


to a location
with potential
is
. More generally, the work
done to make an incremental charge change to a
charge density is

Gauss Law

3. Account for all the work


done, and thereby derive
the energy stored in the
electric fields.
4. The argument directly
extends to systems with
multiple conductors
(and dielectrics).

ZERO ! WHY ?

16

ENERGY DENSITY [J/m3]

Energy Stored in Electric Fields


The energy stored in an electric field is 0 E2.
The maximum achievable field strength is
typically limited by electric breakdown

Note: Dielectric constant is


17

H H
H-CCH
H H

1.10

Energy [eV]

ENERGY OF AN
ELECTRON IN
H2O or CO2

+
18

O=C=O

ENERGY OF AN
ELECTRON IN AN
ALKANE
MOLECULE IN
GASOLINE

0V

If the hydrogen radius was


twice as long, what would be
the ground state energy ?

These product molecules have shorter


bond lengths than the initial reactant
molecule, hence the charge in them
sits closer together. This can be
modeled as a higher capacitance.
Since voltage V = Q/C = E d is reduced,
stored energy W/Volume = oE2
is reduced in these molecules

Burn this molecule


by reacting it
with oxygen

Hydrogen ground state


energy is -13.6 eV

1.16

- -

- -

Modeling Atoms and Molecules


as Capacitors that Store Energy

1.54

Remember this
unit of energy:
1 eV = 1.6 x 10-19 J

_
+

ENERGY GIVEN
OFF AS HEAT IN
THE PROCESS
OF GASOLINE
COMBUSTION

Leyden Jar

19

Franklins motor (1748)

20

KEY TAKEAWAYS
Maxwells Equations (in Free Space with Electric Charges present):
DIFFERENTIAL FORM

INTEGRAL FORM

E-Gauss:

Faraday:

H-Gauss:

Ampere:

Boundary conditions for E-field:


. Normal E-field discontinuous
. Tangential E-Field - continuous

GOOD FACTS TO REMEMBER:


AIR BREAKDOWN STRENGTH
is 33 kV/cm
NEW UNIT OF ENERGY:

Energy stored in the


electric field per unit volume is:
Energy released when fuel molecules are oxidized since the charges in the products
are positioned closer together than in reactants (hence in a lower energy state)
Dielectric constant in free space is

21

MIT OpenCourseWare
http://ocw.mit.edu

6.007 Electromagnetic Energy: From Motors to Lasers


Spring 2011

For information about citing these materials or our Terms of Use, visit: http://ocw.mit.edu/terms.

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