13

E2 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
OBJECTIVES
Aims
The most important new concept that you should aim to understand from this chapter is the idea of
potential difference. Associated with this you will learn how to use the concept of energy in the
study of electrostatic phenomena. You will also learn the essential physics involved in the electrical
behaviour of non-conducting materials, called dielectrics, using the concepts (which have already
been introduced) of charge, charge density and electric field.
Minimum learning goals
When you have finished studying this chapter you should be able to do all of the following.
1. Explain, interpret and use the terms:
induced charge, electric potential, voltage, potential difference, electromotive force, volt,
charge double layer, potential discontinuity, capacitance, capacitor, dielectric, relative
permittivity, equipotential, equipotential surface, potential gradient.
2. Give examples of the magnitudes of typical voltages encountered in scientific work and
everyday life.
3. State and apply the relations among potential difference, surface charge density, charge,
surface area, relative permittivity and separation distance for parallel plate capacitors and
charge double layers.
4. State and apply the definition of capacitance. Describe and explain the effect of dielectric
materials on capacitance.
5. State and apply expressions for the energy stored in a capacitor.
6. State and apply the relation between potential difference and electric field strength for uniform
fields.
7. Apply energy conservation to the motion of charged particles in electric fields.
8. (a) Interpret equipotential diagrams.
(b) Sketch equipotentials for simple geometries of charged static conductors.
(c) Explain why the surfaces of conductors are usually equipotentials.
CONCEPT DIAGRAM
E2: Electric potential 14
PRE-LECTURE
2-1 INTRODUCTION - ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
In chapter E1 you saw that one way of explaining the effect of a static distribution of charges is to
describe the electrostatic field E in the space around the charges. In this chapter we explore another
way of doing the same thing - which is to describe the electric potential difference between various
points in the space. These two kinds of description are essentially equivalent - if you know one of
them you can work out the other. The relation between electrostatic field and potential difference is
the same as that between conservative force and potential energy (PE); see chapter FE5. The change
in PE is equal to minus the work done by the force. Since electric field is force per charge, potential
difference can be defined as a change in potential energy per charge.
One of the advantages in talking about potentials rather than electric fields is that whereas
force and electric field are vector quantities, potential energy and potential are scalar quantities.
Scalars are more easily calculated and described than vectors.
2-2 INDUCED CHARGE
Consider what happens when a body is introduced into a region of electric field, for example by
bringing a charged object close to the conducting body. If the body is a metallic conductor some of
the electrons in it are free to move. They move in a direction opposite to that of the electric field,
leaving a positive charge behind them. We say that charges have been induced on the ends of the
body by the electric field. Charge separation can also be induced in insulating materials when
positive and negative charges within the molecules of the material rearrange themselves, leaving net
surface charges of opposite sign on opposite sides of the conductor. Such induced charges are
formed when pieces of paper are attracted to a charged comb. See figure 2.1
Figure 2.1 Induced charge
Question
Q2. 1 The charges induced on a piece of paper by an external electric field are equal in magnitude and opposite in
sign, and yet the paper is still attracted to a comb (figure 2.1). Why?
- +
-
-
+
+
Field without the conductor Same field with the conductor
Figure 2.2 A conducting body in an electric field
E2: Electric potential 15
The original field lines are distorted by these separated charges (figure 2.2). Some of them
terminate at the surface on one side of the body, and new field lines originate from the other side. If
the body is elongated the separation between the charges can be quite large i.e. the charges act,
effectively, as isolated electric charges.
LECTURE
2-3 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
Any charged particle located in a region of electrostatic field experiences a force. The force on the
particle at any place is determined by the particle's charge and the value of the field: F = qE. If the
particle moves from one place to another within that region, the electrostatic force does work on the
particle and its potential energy changes. Just as we can associate an electric field with each point in
the space, we can also define an electrical potential V for every point, such that a charged particle's
potential energy U at the point is given by the simple relation
U = qV. ... (2.1)
Since potential is defined at each point in space it is a field, but unlike the electric field E, it is a
scalar so it has no direction. Since potential energies are always reckoned from an arbitrary zero
level, so is potential. It is usually more meaningful to talk about the potential difference (V)
between two points in space than the potential (V) at one point.
The colloquial term voltage can refer to one of two distinct physical ideas - EMF or
potential difference. EMF is associated with sources of electrical energy while potential
difference is created by distributions of charge. (The term EMF is derived from electromotive
force, a name that is no longer used, because the quantity is not a force.)
Electric potential and sources of electric energy
Sources of electrical energy such as batteries and sources of electrical signals such as nerve cells can
separate electric charges by doing work on them. This energy put in to a system of charges can be
described in terms of the voltage or EMF of the source. For sources of electricity:
EMF =
energysuppliedbysource
chargepassedthroughsource
.
The separated charges produce an electrostatic field and a potential at every point in the space around
them.
When a source of EMF is not connected to an external circuit, the potential difference between
its terminals becomes equal to the EMF of the source, but while charges are actually flowing through
the source energy dissipation within the source may cause the potential difference to be less than the
EMF. This point is explored in more detail in your laboratory work.
The SI unit of both potential difference and EMF is the volt; (symbol V) defined as one joule
per coulomb: 1 V 1 J.C
-1
. The unit is named after Alessandro Volta who astonished the
scientific world in 1800 when he invented the first source of continuous electric current, the first
battery.
Voltage is probably the most commonly used term in electricity. That is because the most
significant thing about any source of electricity or about any electrical signal is its voltage or EMF.
Some examples are listed in the following table.
E2: Electric potential 16
Source Voltage (EMF)
EEG signals ~ 1 V
ECG signals ~ 1 mV
cell membrane ~ 100 mV
flashlight cell 1.5 V
domestic electricity 240 V (Australia, U.K.)
115 V (U.S.A., Canada)
Van de Graaff generator
10
5
V
power transmission
3.3 10
5
V
thunderstorm
> 10
8
V
2-4 ELECTRIC FIELD AND POTENTIAL
You have already seen that electric field is force per charge and potential is potential energy per
charge. So electric field and potential are linked in the same way that the concepts of force and
potential energy are linked. You will recall, from chapter FE5, that change in potential energy is
defined as the negative of the work done by a conservative force, U = - W. You should also
remember that to calculate work done by a given force, we integrate the force with respect to
displacement or, equivalently, find the area under a force-displacement graph. So the way to
calculate potential difference from electric field is the same: integrate the field with respect to
displacement. It is worth recalling why this straightforward relation works. It is because nature has
provided a special class of forces, conservative forces, for which the work done by the force on a
particle depends only on the starting and finishing points of its motion. The details of the path
between the points don't affect the amount of work done. The electrostatic force happens to be one
of those conservative forces, so the work that it does on a particle, and hence also the work per
charge, depends only on the starting and finishing points. That is why potential can be defined
uniquely at each point in space.
Figure 2.3 Work done by a uniform field
The total work done by the electrostatic force is the same in both cases.
In a course like this we don't do complex mathematical problems, so we need consider only a
simple but surprisingly useful example: the case of a uniform electric field (figure 2.3). Suppose
that we have a particle, charge q, which goes from A to B as shown in the left hand part of figure 2.3.
(An external force would be needed to achieve that, but we are not really interested in that aspect.)
The size of the electrostatic force on the particle is equal to qE and it is directed to the right. Since
the field is uniform the force doesn't change and the work done by the electrostatic force is just the
product of the displacement and force's component in the direction of the displacement (which is
negative in this example).
E2: Electric potential 17
W = -qEl .
Since the change in PE is equal to minus the work done by the electrostatic force
U
B
-
U
A
=
qEl
.
Finally the potential difference between points A and B is the change in PE per charge, i.e.
V
B
-
V
A
=
El

. ... (2.2)
In this example point B is at a higher potential than A. One way of seeing that is to note that
you, an external agent would have to do work on a positively charged particle in order to push it
from A to B against the electrostatic force.
Now suppose that instead of going straight from A to B, the particle went via point C, as
shown in the right-hand part of figure 2.3. On the diagonal part of the path, the magnitude of the
force component is less but the displacement is longer. It's actually quite easy to show that the work
is the same as for the path AB. On the second stretch, from C to B, the component of the force in
the displacement direction is zero, so there is no more work. The work done over the paths AB and
ACB is identical. In fact it is the same for all possible paths from A to B. In this example we have
actually shown that the potential at C is the same as that at B. Furthermore it's the same at all points
on the line BC. We can call the line BC an equipotential.
The relation between potential and field (equation 2.2) can be looked at in another way. We
can express the component of the electric field in terms of the change in potential and the
displacement.
For a uniform field: E
x = -
D
V
D
x

;
or more generally
E
x = -
d
V
d
x

. ...(2.2a)
This relation says that the x-component of the electric field is equal to the negative of the gradient (in
the x-direction) of the potential. (That's not surprising because we got the potential by taking the
negative integral of the work per charge.) The sign is important here because we are now talking
about a component of the field, rather than its magnitude, and we need to take account of the
directions of both field and displacement.
This relation is also the origin of the SI unit name, volt per metre, for electric field strength.
2-5 CONDUCTORS
Conductors as equipotentials
Every part of a conductor (which is not carrying a current) is at the same electric potential. The
conductor is an equipotential region and its surface is an equipotential surface. If the
distribution of charges near the conductor is changed, the conductor will always remain an
equipotential, although the value of that potential depends on the charge on and near the conductor.
To see why conductors are equipotentials, suppose we have a one that is not an equipotential.
In that case there would then be an electric field in some part of the conductor and the free charges
would immediately be accelerated by the electric field. The result would be a continual redistribution
of the charges in the conductor until the internal field was reduced to zero.
*

A current-carrying conductor (e.g. a wire) by contrast is not strictly speaking an equipotential;
there must be some potential drop along the direction of the current in order to keep the charges
flowing. However in many applications, the potential change along the conductors is much less than
that across the generator or the load. To that extent even current carrying conductors may be
regarded as equipotentials. It is common practice to regard the earth conductors in circuits as

*
In fact this redistribution occurs extremely rapidly; the fields fall exponentially to zero with a time constant=e/g
where g is the conductivity of the material (see chapter E3). For copper, as an example, the relaxation time t is
about 10
-19
s. Even for relatively poor conductors like rock or living tissue, the relaxation time is much shorter than
1 s.
E2: Electric potential 18
equipotentials (at zero volts). Sometimes this is not good enough, and one is faced with earth loop
problems: spurious signals arise in amplifiers due to neglected currents in, and potential drop along,
the earth conductors.
In the design of electron guns in (for example) electron microscopes, explicit use is made of
the fact that conductors are equipotentials. Potentials applied to the electrodes of the gun establish
the electric field which accelerates the electron beam (see chapter E3).
Pairs of conductors
For a pair of conductors, each of which is an equipotential, the potential difference is related to the
electric field between them. Indeed, either potential or field can be used to specify the electric state
of the conductors. A simple example is a pair of plane parallel conductors (figure 2.4)
+ + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Strong uniform field between plates
Weak fringing
field outside
Equipotential
Equipotential
Figure 2.4 The electric field of charged parallel plates
When the plates are charged, positive on one and an equal negative charge on the other, the
charges spread out uniformly over the inside surfaces of the plates. The electric field, represented by
field lines running from the positive to the negative charges, is approximately uniform between the
plates. By making the plates sufficiently close, the non-uniform fringing field at the edges becomes
relatively unimportant. The field (and field lines) are perpendicular to the plates because the plates
are conductors (see chapter E1). The symmetry of the arrangement ensures the uniformity of the
field (represented as equally spaced parallel field lines everywhere normal to the surface of the
plates).
We have already discussed the connection between field and potential for the case of a
uniform field. The electric field between the plates is equal to the potential difference between them
divided by their separation. For conductors of arbitrary shape (figure 2.5) the electric field between
them is non-uniform.
+
_
Figure 2.5 The electric field between two charged conductors
of arbitrary shape
The point to be remembered is that there is a unique electrostatic potential between any pair of
conductors.
Demonstration
In the video lecture, the voltage between two conductors is measured with the voltmeter leads
touching the conductors at several different pairs of points. The voltage is shown to be
independent of the location of the voltmeter probes.
E2: Electric potential 19
Demonstration
A demonstration of the electrostatic deflection of a beam of electrons which occurs in the video
lecture is pertinent to chapter E1. See 1-10.
2-6 ELECTRIC DOUBLE LAYERS
Two closely spaced layers of charge, equal in magnitude and opposite in sign, comprise a charge
double layer. Such double layers occur in the membranes of all living cells. An understanding of
their electrical properties is essential in studying the mechanism of nerve transmission and cell
metabolism. Here we consider the simplest type of double layer, where the layers of charge are on
parallel plane conductors. By supposing that the areas of the two plane conductors are very large, on
the scale of their separation, the mathematical description becomes very simple, but the physical
ideas involved apply equally well to other shapes and areas of double charge sheets.
Consider two conductors having plane parallel faces a small distance l apart and charged with
surface charge density of magnitude s. The material in the space between the conductors has
permittivity e (figure 2.6).
Figure 2.6 Charge double layer on parallel conductors
The conductors are sufficiently close so that the effects on the non-uniform field at the edges
may be neglected. Then the double layer has the following properties.
Between the charge layers, the magnitude of the electric field is uniform, directed from the
positive towards the negative charges, and of strength (given by equation 1.2)
E =
s
e
....(2.3)
i.e. the lines of E terminate on the charges according to Gauss's law.
The electric field is perpendicular to the conductor surface - can you see why? The
magnitude E of the field does not depend on the separation l.
Within the conductors, the electric field is necessarily zero. Each conductor is an equipotential
region.
There is a potential difference between the two conductors given by
V = El =
sl
e
.... (2.4)
In figure 2.6, conductor 2 is at the higher potential since it is positively charged. For fixed
amounts of charge, V increases as the spacing l increases.
Often the spacing l is very small, and we are not very concerned with the region inside the
double layer. In effect the charge double layer represents a potential discontinuity between the
two conductors. In fact, whenever a potential difference exists between two contiguous pieces
of matter a charge double layer is involved. Examples include living cells, batteries,
thermocouples, semiconductor junctions, etc.
E2: Electric potential 20
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
- +
Conductor 1
Conductor 2
l
Permittivity e
- s
Charge density
+ s
0
Component of
electric field
E
x
0
- E
Potential
V
0
DV =
s l
e
E =
s
e
x
x
x
E
Figure 2.7 Charge, field and potential in a double layer
The horizontal axis in all cases represents position.
The properties of a charge double layer are depicted in the graphs of figure 2.7. These
diagrams illustrate that a charge layer represents a discontinuity in the electric field of magnitude
s
e
0

. A charge double layer represents a discontinuity in the potential, of magnitude
sl
e
0
.
Demonstrations
Some of the properties of charge double layers are demonstrated in the video lecture.
i) The field mill is mounted with its measuring aperture flush with the surface of an aluminium
plate of diameter 0.70m. A second plate, supported by a high quality insulator is held 0.05m
from the first plate.
The insulated plate is charged by momentarily connecting a 50 V battery between the
plates. The field mill meter reads 1 kV.m
-1
(50 V 0.05 m). The field between the plates is
1kV.m
-1
as the plates are close and edge effects are comparatively small. Thus the magnitude
of the surface charge density on the plates is uniform and is related to the electric field by
equation 2.3.
The separation of the plates is increased, keeping the charge and the charge density
constant. The meter continues to read 1kV.m
-1
confirming that E is indeed independent of the
separation. (The slight fall in E is due to the increasing significance of the edge effects as the
separation increases.)
ii) The same aluminium plates were placed very close together (about 1 mm) and charged by
momentary contact with a 250 V battery. The plates were then drawn apart slowly. An
electrostatic voltmeter connected between the plates showed that the potential rose as the plates
E2: Electric potential 21
were separated, more or less in proportion to the separation. The potential rose to above 8 kV
when the plates were well separated.
This is consistent with equation 2.4 which shows that the voltage increases with
separation if the charge is kept constant. In this demonstration the separation l was increased
about 30 times, and the voltage rose in essentially the same ratio from 250 V to 8 kV.
2-7 CAPACITANCE
Definition of capacitance
If separated charges +Q and -Q are placed on a pair of conductors, then there will be a potential
difference V between the conductors. (Note that here V means the same as V.) Unless the material
between the conductors breaks down and starts to conduct the potential difference is found to be
proportional to the charge. So the ratio
C =
Q
V
... (2.5)
is a constant called the capacitance of the pair of conductors. The capacitance depends only on the
shapes of the conductors, their separation and the composition of the insulating material between
them. It does not normally depend on the voltage or the charge.
The name capacitance is a modernised version of the old name capacity which expresses how
much separated charge a capacitor can hold in terms of the voltage. In the old days capacitance used
to be measured in units of jars because the first capacitors were glass jars coated inside and out with
metal foil. The SI unit of capacitance is the coulomb per volt, which has the special name of farad
(symbol, F). In most laboratory work we deal with capacitances in the range of 1 pF (10
-12
F)
through 1 nF (10
-9
F) to 1 F (10
-6
F) and beyond. One microfarad is a decent sized capacitance.
Parallel plate capacitor
Mathematically the simplest kind of capacitor consists of two identical flat sheets of metal separated
by a thin layer of insulating material. When the capacitor is charged we have a charge double layer
for which the potential difference is given by equation 2.4:
V =
sl
e
.
Combining this equation with the definition of surface charge density (s = Q / A) and the definition
of capacitance (equation 2.5) gives a formula for the capacitance:
C =
eA
l
. .... (2.6)
You can now see where the unit for permittivity, F.m
-1
, comes from. Just put F for capacitance,
m
2
for area and m for separation into equation 2.6.
Equation 2.6 is a special case of the general result that, for any pair of conductors
C = e

area
spacing
F ... (2.7)
where F is a dimensionless factor (a pure number) that depends on the actual shapes and
arrangement of the conductors. For the parallel plate capacitor, F = 1.
The effect of a dielectric
It is shown in the video lecture that if a parallel plate capacitor is charged, and then a sheet of perspex
is inserted between the plates the voltage across the capacitor falls.
Since for a capacitor V =
Q
C
and in this case the charge does not change, it follows that the
effect of the perspex is to increase the capacitance. The effect is already predicted by equation 2.6 if
we say that the permittivity of perspex is larger than that for air. In general, capacitance is increased
if an insulating material replaces vacuum between the plates. A material that produces this effect is
called a dielectric.
E2: Electric potential 22
Figure 2.8 Effect of a dielectric on a charged capacitor
The effect of the perspex can be understood by considering its molecular structure. The
electron clouds are bound to their respective molecules to the extent that they are not free to flow
through the material (in contrast with conductors). When the perspex is placed in the charged
capacitor, those electron clouds are displaced slightly by the electric field within the capacitor. In the
bulk of the material there is no average effect as the charge induced on one end of a molecule is
cancelled by the charge of opposite sign induced on the end of the adjacent molecule, but bound
surface charges appear on the surfaces. Each molecule behaves like a dipole and the dipoles are
aligned with the field. Figure 2.9 is a very schematic representation of that effect.
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
-
+
E
Layer of negative charge
Layer of positive charge
No net charge
Figure 2.9 Microscopic picture of an electrically polarised dielectric
These bound surface charges are opposite in sign to the free charges, Q, on the metal plates
(figure 2.10). They have the effect of reducing the total electric field strength within the material,
and hence of reducing the voltage between the plates.
Figure 2.10 Charges on the capacitor plates and on the dielectric
Instead of specifying values of permittivity for various dielectrics, it is more meaningful to give
a factor by which a dielectric will increase the capacitance above the vacuum value. This factor,
which we will call relative permittivity, is defined as the ratio of the permittivity of the dielectric to
the permittivity of free space:
E2: Electric potential 23
k =
e
e
0
.... (2.8)
Although the term relative permittivity describes this quantity precisely, it is more commonly known
as dielectric constant.
The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor with a dielectric material between the plates is then
C = ke
0
A
l


.
For perspex, k = 2.0 and for water, k=80.
Energy stored in a capacitor
Since work must be done to separate charges, a charged capacitor contains stored electric potential
energy:
U =
1
2
CV
2
... (2.9).
Note. If you are interested in seeing where this relation comes from, follow this argument. The
work done in separating a charge dq when the capacitor voltage is V is
dW = Vdq
\ dW = CV dV [since dq = CdV]

\ d W=
0
W

CV d V =
1
2
0
V

CV
2
Example. In the capacitor storage bank of the TORTUS tokamak, there is a total of 3.3 farads of
capacitance at a voltage of 400 volts. The stored energy (
1
2
CV
2
) is a quarter of a million
joules.
Use of capacitance measurements
Measurements of the capacitance of living cell membranes can be used to deduce the thickness of
the membranes, since the capacitance depends inversely on the thickness.
2-8 EQUIPOTENTIALS AND ELECTRIC FIELDS
You have already seen that any conductor which is not actually carrying an current is an
equipotential. But the ideas of potential and equipotential are not restricted to conductors. The
potential difference between any two points (whether on conductors or not) is uniquely defined.
Potential differences between conductors can generally be measured by simply connecting a
suitable voltmeter. It is much harder to measure potential differences in air, for example. Most
instruments so distort the field that it bears little relationship to the situation existing before the
measurement was attempted. For example, in fine weather the potential (relative to the ground) at a
point 2 m above the ground is about 300 V, due to the permanent positive charge on the upper
atmosphere. However if you stand up outside, the potential at your head is zero and the field lines
are distorted by your presence.
Figure 2.11 Distortion of the Earth's electric field
The terrestrial electrostatic field is distorted by a person. The ground and the person together form a
continuous conductor which must be an equipotential. The dotted lines represent equipotential surfaces
in the air, at intervals of about 100 volts.
E2: Electric potential 24
Equipotential surfaces are in general imagined (mathematical) surfaces connecting points in
vacuum, in air or other material which are at the same potential. Figure 2.12 shows the cross section
of a pair of charged wires. The solid lines represent the equipotential surfaces. (This example is
shown as a computed animated diagram in the video lecture.) The equipotentials of a dipole are
similar to the pattern in figure 2.12.
Figure 2.12 Equipotentials between charged conducting cylinders
Equipotentials and field lines
Equipotentials and field lines are closely related. Either is an adequate way of describing the state of
electrification of a region. To see the relationship between them, remember that the electric field is
just the negative potential gradient.
The strength of the field is measured by the closeness of the equipotentials, and the direction
of the field is always at right angles to the equipotential surfaces. Equipotential diagrams resemble
contour maps. In a map, the slope is represented by the closeness of the contours, and the direction
of slope is perpendicular to the contours.
POST-LECTURE
2-9 QUESTIONS
Q2. 2 On a fine day in open country the naturally occurring charge on the ground is -1.00 nC.m
-2
. Calculate the
electric field and potential difference (relative to the ground) at a height of 3.00 m.
Q2. 3 By the time you have finished this course you should have some feeling for the order of magnitude of the
potential difference involved in various situations. Can you find out the order magnitude of potential
difference involved in each of the following?
1. Electrocardiography [example of answer ~ 1 mV]
2. Accelerating voltage in a colour TV set
3. Minimum detectable with tongue
4. Minimum felt as shock with two fingers of one hand
5. Minimum capable of causing fatal electric shock (across hand - foot)
6. Used in electrostatic precipitators
7. Motor car ignition
8. Generated in a solar photovoltaic cell
9. Of a wrist-watch batter
10. A piezo-electric gas lighter
11. Induced in a receiving aerial by a transmitter 10 km distant
12. Combing dry hair
13. Corrosion of galvanised iron
14. Nerve transmission
15. Power for electric trains
16. Operating the telephone system
17. In-hand calculators
E2: Electric potential 25
18 Electric welding
19 Between the mains live and neutral wires
20. Between the mains earth and neutral wires
21. To make a frog's leg twitch
22. Between ground and the atmosphere at a height of 1 km, in fine weather
23. An electric insect zapper
24. Ionisation of an alkali metal, M M
+
+ e.
Q2. 4 In a vacuum tube the anode is maintained at a potential of 2.5 kV relative to the cathode. The anode to
cathode spacing is 0.10 mm. An electron is released from the cathode and accelerated by the electric field
between anode and cathode. What is its kinetic energy on striking the anode? Express your answer
i) in symbols,
ii) in joules.
Q2. 5 A living cell has a potential difference of 90 mV between the interior of the cell and the extra-cellular fluid.
The interior is negative with respect to the extra-cellular fluid. What can you deduce about the electric
double layer at the cell membrane?
Q2. 6 The membrane of a cell is electrically equivalent to a parallel plate capacitor of area 1.0mm
2
and
thickness 1.0 m. The relative permittivity of the membrane is 8.0. The voltage across the capacitor is
90mV. Find:
i) the capacitance,
ii) the magnitude of the electric field in the membrane,
iii) the stored electrical energy,
iv) the magnitude of the separated charge.
Q2. 7 The electric fish Gymnarchus niloticus maintains a formidable charge on its head and a charge equal in
magnitude and opposite in sign on its tail.
Sketch the general form of equipotentials that you would expect for the fish swimming in deep water
(as seen from the side view). How would the shape of the equipotentials change if the fish approached the
surface of a metal ship (i.e. a very good conductor)?
Q2. 8 A spherical conductor is maintained at a potential of +6 V relative to an earthed conducting plane. The
diagram shows the plane, the spherical conductor drawn to actual size and equipotentials drawn at 1V
intervals.
0 V
+ 6 V
i) Sketch in the field lines. About 10 lines would be suitable.
ii) By taking measurements from the diagram, evaluate the electric field magnitude and direction) at
points 10 mm to the right of the sphere, 10 mm above the sphere and 10 mm to the left of the
sphere [these points are indicated by small dotted circles].
E2: Electric potential 26
2- 10 APPENDIX - MORE ON ELECTRIC DOUBLE LAYERS
In the lecture, the discussion of electric double layers was restricted to conducting planes. Now we consider them
more generally: just two sheets of charge. As before they are uniform and parallel. But now the means of support is
not specified.
First consider a single sheet of positive charge (figure 2.13).
+
E
E
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
Figure 2.13 The electric field of a single sheet of positive charge
By symmetry, the electric field will be directed away from the sheet in both directions as shown. The
magnitude of the field is
E =
s
2e
0

(i.e. the field lines from half the charge go to the right, the other half to the left).
Now introduce a second sheet having a surface charge density of equal magnitude and opposite sign.
Figure 2.14 Fields between and beyond two oppositely
charged sheets
Beyond the two charge layers the contributions to E from the layers cancel. These are regions of zero field,
and therefore equipotential regions.
Between the two layers, the contributions add, giving
E =
s
e
0