Engineering Physics

Dr. Rajesh Cheruku

​ ssistant Professor
A
Department of Physics
Central University of Karnataka
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The Electric Potential

➢ The potential difference between two points is defined to be the negative

line integral of the electric field.

➢ Equivalently, the electric field equals the negative gradient of the

potential.

➢ Just as the electric field is the force per unit charge, the potential is the
potential energy per unit charge.

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Electric potential as line integral of electric field
Suppose that E is the field of some stationary
distribution of electric charges.

Let P1 and P2 denote two points anywhere in the

field.

The line integral of E between the two points is

P2
න E · ds
P1

taken along some path that runs from P1 to P2, as

shown in Figure.

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This means:

➢ divide the chosen path into short segments, each segment being represented by a vector
connecting its ends,

➢ take the scalar product of the path-segment vector with the field E at that place,

➢ add these products up for the whole path.

The integral as usual is to be regarded as the limit of this sum as the segments are made
shorter and more numerous without limit.

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Potential difference and the potential function
Because the line integral in the electrostatic field is path-independent, we can use it to define
a scalar quantity φ21, without specifying any particular path:

P2
φ21 = -‫׬‬P E · ds
1

With the minus sign included here, φ21 is the work per unit charge done by an
external agency in moving a positive charge from P1 to P2 in the field E.

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➢ The external agency must supply a force Fext = −qE to balance the electrical force Felec =
qE; hence the minus sign.

➢ Thus φ21 is a single-valued scalar function of the two positions P1 and P2.

➢ We call it the electric potential difference between the two points.

➢ In our SI system of units, potential difference is measured in joule/coulomb. This unit has a
name of its own, the volt:
1 Joule
1volt=
1 Coulomb

One joule of work is required to move a charge of one coulomb

through a potential difference of one volt.
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Q1 Find the potential associated with the electric field described in Figure, the components
of which are Ex = Ky, Ey = Kx, Ez = 0, with K a constant.

➢ Since Ez = 0, the potential will be independent

of z and we need consider only the xy plane.

➢ Let x1, y1 be the coordinates of P1, and x2, y2 the

coordinates of P2.

➢ It is convenient to locate P1 at the origin: x1 = 0,

y1 = 0.

➢ To evaluate − ‫ ׬‬E · ds from this reference point

to a general point (x2, y2) it is easiest to use a
path like the dashed path ABC in Figure.

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The first of the two integrals on the right is zero because Ex is zero along the
X-axis. The second integration is carried out at constant x, with Ey = Kx2:

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There was nothing special about the point (x2, y2) so we can drop the
subscripts:
φ(x, y) = −Kxy

➢ for any point (x, y) in this field, with zero potential at the origin. Any
constant could be added to this.

➢ That would only mean that the reference point to which zero potential is
assigned had been located somewhere else.

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Derivation of the field from the potential
It is now easy to see that the relation of the scalar function f to the vector function ∇f is the
same, except for a minus sign, as the relation of the potential φ to the field E.

(1)

Consider the value of φ at two nearby points, (x, y, z) and (x+dx, y+dy, z+dz).

The change in φ, going from the first point to the second, is, in first-order approximation,

(2)

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On the other hand, from the definition of φ, the change can also be expressed as

dφ = −E · ds. (3)

The infinitesimal vector displacement ds is just ˆx dx + ˆy dy + ˆz dz.

Thus if we identify E with −∇φ, where ∇φ is defined via Eq. (1), then Eqs. (2) and (3)
become identical.

So the electric field is the negative of the gradient of the potential

E = −∇φ (4)

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The minus sign came in because the electric field points from a region of greater potential
toward a region of lesser potential, whereas the vector ∇φ is defined so that it points in the
direction of increasing φ.

To show how this works, we go back to the example of the field in Figure. From the
potential given by Eq. (4), φ = −Kxy, we can recover the electric field we started with:

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Potential due to a uniform sphere

A sphere has radius R and uniform volume

charge density ρ. Find the potential for all
values of r, both inside and outside the
sphere. Take the reference point P1 to be
infinitely far away.

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So charge distribution can calculate by volume charge density

4πR3
q= ρ
𝟑

Substitute this value of charge q in the above equation, so we can write the equation as:

4πR3 ρ
𝟏 𝟑
E=
4πϵ0 r2

ρ R3
E=
ϵ0 𝟑r2

This equation describes the electric field intensity at the external point of the solid non-
conducting sphere.

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➢ So electric field intensity on the surface of a solid non-conducting sphere can be found by
putting r=R in the formula of electric field intensity at the external point of the solid non-
conducting sphere:

𝟏 𝒒
E=
4πϵ0 r2

ρR
E=
3ϵ0
➢ The magnitude of the (radial) electric field inside the sphere is E(r) = ρR/3ε0, and the
magnitude outside is E(r) = ρR3/3ε0r2.

➢ The potential equals the negative of the line integral of the field, from P1 (which we are
taking to be at infinity) down to a given radius r.

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The potential outside the sphere is therefore

(1)

➢ In terms of the total charge in the sphere, Q = (4πR3/3)ρ, this potential is simply
φout(r) = Q/4π ε0 r.

➢ This is as expected, because we already knew that the potential energy of a charge q
due to the sphere is qQ/4π ε0 r.

➢ And the potential φ equals the potential energy per unit charge.

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To find the potential inside the sphere, we must break the integral into two
pieces:

(2)

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➢ Note that Eq. (1) yield the same value of φ at the surface of the sphere,
namely
φ(R) = ρR2/3 ε0.

➢ So φ is continuous across the surface, as it should be. (The field is

everywhere finite, so the line integral over an infinitesimal interval must
yield an infinitesimal result.)

➢ The slope of φ is also continuous, because E(r) (which is the negative

derivative of φ, because φ is the negative integral of E) is continuous.

➢ A plot of φ(r) is shown in Figure.

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➢ The potential at the center of the
sphere is

φ(0) = ρR2/2 ε0,

which is 3/2 times the value at the

surface.

➢ So if you bring a charge in from

infinity, it takes 2/3 of your work to
reach the surface, and then 1/3 to go
the extra distance of R to the center.

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Potential of a long charged wire

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➢ To see how this goes in the case of the infinitely long charged wire, let us
arbitrarily locate the reference point P1 at a distance r1 from the wire.

➢ Then to carry a charge from P1 to any other point P2 at distance r2 requires

the work per unit charge. i.e.,

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➢ This shows that the electric potential for the charged wire can be taken as

➢ The constant, (λ/2πε0) ln r1 in this case, has no effect when we take

−grad φ to get back to the field E. In this case

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