Physics

Chapter – 1
(Charge, Electric field & Gauss’s Law)
Under Supervision

Saidur Rahman
Lecturer

Dept of CSE

Daffodil Institute of IT

Prepared

By

Humayun Ahmed – (CSE-20th batch)

rullah Dehan – (CSE-20th batch)

Nashrul

Akib Hossain Omi – (CSE-20th batch)

MD.Akib

Khairul Islam Efty – (CSE-20th batch)

1
Point charge:
“If the size of the charged particle is extremely small, then the particle is called point charge.”

These charged particles are so small compared to the distance between them that they may be
considered as mathematical points. We define coulombs law with the help of point charges.

Coulomb’s Law:
“The attractive or repulsive force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of
two charges and inversely proportional to the square of their distance and the force acts along their
joining line.”

Explanation of Coulombs law:

Let q1 q2 be two point charges and the distance between them

them is r. If they assert a force of magnitude
of F, then according to Coulombs law:

( Figure 1 )

F ∝ q1q2 When, r is constant and

𝟏
F∝ 𝟐 When q1 and q2 are constant
𝒓
When r, q1 & q2 all vary then,

𝐪𝟏𝐪𝟐
F∝
𝒓𝟐

𝐪𝟏𝐪𝟐
Or, F =K
𝒓𝟐

Here, k is a proportionality constant. Its value depends on the nature of the medium and the units
of q1, q2, F and r.
In S. I. units,
K= = 9 × 10 𝑁𝑚 𝑐
τ∈

2
Gauss Law: "The total charge enclosed by closed surface is equal to ϵ0 times the electric flux with
the closed surface."

If the area of a closed surface is S and total charge enclosed by that surface is q, then according to
gauss law,

𝑬𝟎 φ = q

Or, 𝑬𝟎 ∮ 𝑬. 𝒅𝑺 = 𝒒

Here ϵ0 is permittivity of vacuum.

Deduce Coulombs Law From Gauss’s Law:

Solution: According to Gauss’s Law,

𝑬𝟎 ∮ 𝑬. 𝒅𝑺 = 𝒒

Angle between E and dS 0°

∴ 𝑬𝟎 ∮ 𝑬⃗ . 𝒅𝑺⃗ 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝜽 = 𝒒

Or, 𝑬𝟎 ∮ 𝑬. 𝒅𝑺 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝟎° = 𝒒

Or, 𝑬𝟎 ∮ 𝑬. 𝒅𝑺 = 𝒒

Or, 𝑬𝟎 . 𝑬 ∮ 𝒅𝑺 = 𝒒
( Figure 2 )
𝟐
Or, 𝑬𝟎 . 𝑬 ∮(𝟒𝝅𝒓 ) = 𝒒

N.B : Where , ∮ 𝒅𝑺 = 𝟒𝝅𝒓𝟐 is the area of surface

𝟏 𝒒
∴E= . ………………………………….. (1)
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓𝟐

Equation (1) gives the magnitude of E at any point a distance r from an isolated point charge q .Let us
put a second charge 𝒒𝟎 at the point at where E is calculated the magnitude of the force that acts on it.

𝑭 = 𝒒𝟎 𝑬
𝟏 𝒒𝒒𝟎
=
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓𝟐

𝟏 𝒒𝒒𝟎
∴F= (Solved)
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓𝟐

3
Electric field : The region around the electric charge in which the stress or electric force act is called
electric field.

Electric field strength or intensity:

“The electric force acting on a unit charge at a point in the electric field is called electric field
strength or electric field intensity.”
𝑭
It is denoted by E. It is a vector quantity. It can be written as, E =
𝒒
Where, F is the force acting on a point charge q.
The S.I. unit of electric field strength is N /C.

Calculation of electric field due to a point charge:

Let a test charge 𝒒𝟎 is placed at a distance r from a point charge q. The magnitude of force acting

on 𝒒𝟎 is given by

𝟏 𝒒𝒒𝟎
F=
𝟒𝝉∈𝟎 𝒓𝟐

The electric field at the site of the test charge

𝑭 𝟏 𝒒
E= =
𝒒𝟎 𝟒𝝉∈𝟎 𝒓𝟐

Electric Dipole:

“A pair of electric point charges of equal magnitude but opposite sign separated by a small distance
are said to be electric dipole.”

Electric Field Due to a dipole:

Figure shows an electric dipole consisting of two equal but opposite charges +q and –q which are at
2a distance apart. Now we find the expression for

( Figure 3 )

electric field at a point p, a distance r from the dipole. Let 𝐸⃗and 𝐸 ⃗ be the electric field due to charge
+q and –q respectively.

Now, total electric field 𝐸⃗ = 𝐸⃗ + 𝐸 ⃗

4
Where Ε1 = Ε2 = ∈ (√ )

= ∈ ( )
----------- ---- ---- (1)
The vector sum 𝑬⃗ of 𝑬𝟏⃗ 𝒂𝒏𝒅 𝑬𝟐⃗ points vertically downward and has the magnitude.

Then,
We know that , 𝑅 = 𝑃 + 𝑄 + 2𝑃𝑄 cos 𝜃

∴ 𝑬⃗= 𝑬𝟐𝟏 + 𝑬𝟐𝟐 + 𝟐𝑬𝟏 𝑬𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝟐𝜽

= 𝟐𝑬𝟐𝟏 + 𝟐𝑬𝟐𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐𝜽

= 𝑬𝟐𝟏 (𝟏 + 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐𝜽)

= 𝟐𝑬𝟐𝟏 𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝟐 𝜽

= 𝟒𝑬𝟐𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜽

= (𝟐𝑬𝟏 )𝟐 𝐜𝐨𝐬 𝟐 𝜽

= 𝟐𝑬𝟐𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽 ------ --- --- --- (2)

∴ Ε = 𝟐𝑬𝟐𝟏 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽

𝟐 𝒒 𝒂
=
𝟒𝝉∈𝟎 𝒂𝟐 𝒓𝟐 𝒂𝟐 𝒓𝟐

𝟏 𝟐𝒂𝒒
=
𝟒𝝉∈𝟎 (𝒂𝟐 𝒓𝟐 )𝟑 𝟐

But if we assume that r ≫ a we get

𝟏 (𝟐𝒂)𝒒
E = 𝟒𝝉∈ 𝒓𝟑
𝟎

Again the product (2a)q is called the electric dipole moment p.

𝟏 𝒑
E = 𝟒𝝉∈ 𝒓𝟑
... ... ... ... ... ... ... (3)
𝟎

Equation (1) represents the electric field due to point charge.

(Solve)

5
Electric Field Due to Ring of Charges: Let us consider a small amount of charge dq in the ring. The

( Figure 4 )

total electric field due to a point on the ring is Ex. So,

dEx = dE cos

 dEx = cos

 dEx =
√ √

 dEx =
√

Ex = ∫ 𝑑𝑞
√

=
√

If we assume that x >> a we get,

E = Ex =
πϵ

E= (Solve)
πϵ

6
Electric Field Due to a Uniformly Charged Rod:

Let us consider a section of an infinite rod with uniformly charge density λ, is constant for all points
on the line. Let the rod be surrounded by a cylindrical Gaussian surface of radius r and length h.

( Figure 5 )

If E⃗ is the electric field, according to the Gauss law we can write,

ϵ0∮ E⃗. dS⃗ = q

 ϵ0 E⃗. dS⃗ = h
 ϵ0∮E.dS cos0o = h
 ϵ0E ∮ dS = h
 ϵ0E (2πrh) = h

 E=
πϵ

The direction of E⃗ is radially out ward for a line of positive.

Electric potential : The energy required to bring unit charge from infinity to a point in the electric
field is known as electric potential.

Electric potential due to a Point charge (q)

( Figure 6 )

Consider a point P ay a distance r' from a fixed particle of positive charge q.A positive test charge qₒ
is moved from P to infinity. Now we will derive the electric potential v in the space around the
charged particle, relative to the zero potential to infinity.

dv = E⃗. dS⃗
= E⃗. dr′ cos180°
= −Edr′

7
∴ 𝒗 = − ∫ 𝒅𝒗
𝒓
= − −𝑬𝒅𝒓′
𝟎
𝒓
𝟏 𝒒
= − − . . 𝒅𝒓′
𝟎 𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓𝟐
𝒓
𝒒 𝟏
= . . 𝒅𝒓′
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝟎 𝒓′𝟐
𝒒 𝒓 𝟏
= .
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 −𝟏
𝟏 𝒒
=> 𝑣 = − .
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓 ( Figure 7 )
𝟏 𝒒
=> 𝒗𝟎 − 𝒗𝒇 = − . [ 𝒘𝒉𝒆𝒏 , 𝒓 = ∞ , 𝒗 = 𝟎 ]
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓
𝟏 𝒒
=> 0 − 𝒗𝒇 = − .
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓
𝟏 𝒒
∴𝒗= . (𝑺𝒐𝒍𝒗𝒆)
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝒓

If the charge q is positive, the potential increases with a decreasing distance r. The electric field
points away from a positive charge, and we conclude that the electric field points from regions with a
high electric potential towards regions with a low electric potential.

Example problem

Four point charges are placed at the corners of a square as shown in figure below. Calculate the
electric potential at its center.
q1 d q2
[ here q1 = 12 nC, q2 = -24 nC, q3= 31 nC , q4 = 17 nC and d = 1.3 m]

Distance of the corners from the center of the square is r = 1.32 m d o d

Now using equation (11) the potential at the center is obtained as

1 4
qi 1  q1 q q q 
V  Vi  r    2  3  4
i 4 o i 1 i 4 o  r1 r2 r3 r4 
12 x 10 9  24 x 10 9 31 x 10 9 7 x 10 9 
 9 x 10 9      
 1.3 2 1.3 2 1.3 2 1.3 2 
 12.72 V

8
Electric potential due to a ring of charge :

A thin ring of insulating material has a radius R. An amount of charge Q is uniformly

distributed over it. Find the potential as a function of the distance on the axis of the ring.

Solution : Here,
Radius of the ring = R
Width = ds
𝐝𝐪
liner charge density , 𝛌 =
𝐝𝐬

∴ 𝒅𝒒 = 𝛌. 𝐝𝐬
𝟏 𝛌. 𝐝𝐪
𝒅𝒗 =
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐
𝟏 𝛌. 𝐝𝐬
=
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐

∴𝒗= 𝒅𝒗
𝟐𝝅𝑹
𝟏 𝛌. 𝐝𝐬
=
𝟎 𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐
𝟐𝝅𝑹
𝟏 𝛌
= . 𝟏 . 𝒅𝒔
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 𝟎

𝟏 𝛌
= . [𝒔]𝟐𝝅𝑹
𝟎
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 (Figure 8)
𝛌 𝟐𝛑𝐑
=
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐
𝛌 𝐐
= [𝑸 = 𝛌 . 𝟐𝛑𝐑 ]
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐
(Solve)

9
Electric potential due to a disk of charge :

A disk made of insulator has a radius R and an amount of electric charge Q is uniformly distributed
over it. Find the potential as a function of the distance on the axis of the disk.

Solution : Here,

𝜎 = surface charge density

dq = (2𝝅𝒓. 𝒅𝒓) 𝝈

dv is the potential of the ring of radius r and width dr

𝟏 𝒅𝒒
dv = 𝟒𝝅𝜺
𝟎 𝒓𝟐 𝒚𝟐

𝟏 𝝈.𝟐𝝅𝒓.𝒅𝒓
=𝟒𝝅𝜺
𝟎 𝒓𝟐 𝒚 𝟐

V =∫ 𝒅𝒓
𝑹 𝟏 𝟐𝝅𝒓.𝒅𝒓
=∫𝟎 . dr
𝟒𝝅𝜺𝟎 𝒓𝟐 𝒚𝟐

𝝈 𝑹 𝒓.𝒅𝒓
= ∫
𝟐𝜺𝟎 𝟎 𝒓𝟐 𝒚𝟐

𝝈 𝟏 𝒅𝒖
=𝟐𝜺 ∫ 𝟐 .
𝟎 √𝒖

𝟏
𝝈 𝟏 𝒖 𝟐 𝟏
=𝟐𝜺 . 𝟐 . 𝟏
𝟎 𝟐 𝟏

𝝈
= . [ √𝒖 ] [ 𝑳𝒆𝒕, 𝒓𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐
𝟐𝜺𝟎
(Figure 9)
𝝈 ∴ 𝟐𝒓 . 𝒅𝒓 = 𝒅𝒖
=𝟐𝜺 [ 𝒓𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 ]𝑹
𝟎
𝟎 𝒅𝒖
∴ 𝒓. 𝒅𝒓 = ]
𝟐
𝝈
=𝟐𝜺 ( 𝑹𝟐 + 𝒚𝟐 − 𝒚)
𝟎

(Solve)

The Potential and Field of a Dipole :

Consider an electrical dipole to find the at an arbitrary p point, at p, the positive point charge at P+
distance sets up potential V+ and the negative point charge at P- distance sets up potential V- . Then
the ret potential at P is,

10
𝑉 =𝑉 + 𝑉

= ( + _
)

= ( + _
)

= ( )

When, r>>d ; then dcos 𝜃 = 𝑃 - 𝑃 and r = 𝑟 = 𝑟

𝑉 =
(Figure 10)

= [ Electric dipole moment, p = dq ]

𝑉 =

Electric flux : The number of electric lines of force or field lines passing through a pale or surface is
called electric flux. It is denoted by ΦΕ. Flux is property of any vector field. It refers to a hypothetical
surface in the field, which may be open or closed. For closed surface, ΦΕ is positive if the lines of
force point outward and it is negative for that of inward.

(Figure 12)

Capacitance : Capacitance is the ability of an object to hold an

electrical charge. Capacitors are components in an electrical circuit that

can store a charge and are considered one of the three fundamental

electronic components along with inductors and resistors.

(Figure 11)
11
Potential Gradient:

“The rate of change of electric potential with respect to distance in the direction of electric field is
called electric potential gradient.”

𝒅𝑽
Potential Gradient, E = -
𝒅𝒓

(Figure 13)

Capacitance of a Capacitor:
“The amount of electric charge on a capacitor plate needed to maintain one potential difference in
capacitor is called capacitance of the capacitor.”
𝑸
So Capacitance, C =
𝑽
Or, Q = CV

Calculation of Capacitance for parallel circuit:

VC1 = VC2 = VC3 = VAB = 12V
Capacitor in Parallel connection

When capacitors are connected together in parallel the total or equivalent capacitance, CT in the
circuit is equal to the sum of all the individual capacitors added together. This is because the top plate
of capacitor, C1 is connected to the top plate of C2 which is connected to the top plate of C3 and so on.
The same is also true of the capacitors bottom plates. Then it is the same as if the three sets of plates
were touching each other and equal to one large single plate thereby increasing the effective plate area
in m2.
The currents flowing through each capacitor. By applying Kirchhoff’s Current Law, ( KCL ) to the
above circuit, we have
𝒅𝑽 𝒅𝑽 𝒅𝑽
𝒊𝟏 = 𝑪𝟏 , 𝒊𝟐 = 𝑪𝟐 , 𝒊𝟑 = 𝑪𝟑
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕
𝒊𝑻 = 𝒊𝟏 + 𝒊𝟐 + 𝒊𝟑

12
 𝒅𝑽 𝒅𝑽 𝒅𝑽
∴ 𝒊𝑻 = 𝑪𝟏 + 𝑪𝟐 + 𝑪𝟑
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕
and this can be re-written as:
𝒅𝑽
𝒊𝑻 = ( 𝑪𝟏 + 𝑪𝟐 + 𝑪𝟑 )
𝒅𝒕
𝒅𝑽
Or, 𝒊𝑻 = 𝑪𝑻 𝒅𝒕

Then we can define the total or equivalent circuit capacitance, CT as being the sum of all the
individual capacitance’s add together giving us the generalized equation of:
𝒅𝑽 𝒅𝑽
𝑪𝑻 = (𝑪𝟏 + 𝑪𝟐 + 𝑪𝟑 )
𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕

∴ 𝑪𝑻 = (𝑪𝟏 + 𝑪𝟐 + 𝑪𝟑 )

Calculation of Capacitance for series circuit:

Then, Capacitors in Series all have the same current flowing through them as iT = i1 = i2 = i3 etc.
Therefore each capacitor will store the same amount of electrical charge, Q on its plates regardless of
its capacitance. This is because the charge stored by a plate of any one capacitor must have come from
the plate of its adjacent capacitor.

QT = Q1 = Q2 = Q3 ….etc

Consider the following circuit in which the three capacitors, C1, C2 and C3 are all connected together
in a series branch across a supply voltage between points A and B.

Capacitors in a Series Connection

(Figure 14)

In the previous parallel circuit we saw that the total capacitance, C T of the circuit was equal to the sum
of all the individual capacitors added together. In a series connected circuit however, the total or
equivalent capacitance CT is calculated differently.

In the series circuit above the right hand plate of the first capacitor, C1 is connected to the left hand
plate of the second capacitor, C2 whose right hand plate is connected to the left hand plate of the third
capacitor, C3. Then this series connection means that in a DC connected circuit, capacitor C2 is
effectively isolated from the circuit.

13
The result of this is that the effective plate area has decreased to the smallest individual capacitance
connected in the series chain. Therefore the voltage drop across each capacitor will be different
depending upon the values of the individual capacitance’s.

Then by applying Kirchhoff’s Voltage Law, ( KVL ) to the above circuit, we get:

𝑽𝑨𝑩 = 𝑽𝑪𝟏 + 𝑽𝑪𝟐 + 𝑽𝑪𝟑 = 𝟏𝟐𝒗

𝑸𝑻 𝑸𝑻 𝑸𝑻
𝑽𝑪𝟏 = , 𝑽𝑪𝟐 = , 𝑽𝑪𝟑 =
𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐 𝑪𝟑

Since Q = C*V and rearranging for V = Q/C, substituting Q/C for each capacitor voltage V C in the
above KVL equation will give us:

𝑸𝑻 𝑸𝑻 𝑸𝑻 𝑸𝑻
𝑽𝑨𝑩 = = + +
𝑪𝑻 𝑪𝟏 𝑪𝟐 𝑪𝟑

dividing each term through by Q gives

Series Capacitors Equation

𝟏 𝟏 𝟏 𝟏
𝑪𝑻
= 𝑪𝟏
+ 𝑪𝟐
+ 𝑪𝟑
+ … … … … … … …etc.

When adding together Capacitors in Series, the reciprocal ( 1/C ) of the individual capacitors are all
added together ( just like resistors in parallel ) instead of the capacitance’s themselves. Then the total
value for capacitors in series equals the reciprocal of the sum of the reciprocals of the individual
capacitances.

14