EE2025 Engineering Electromagnetics: July-Nov 2023

Tutorial 6: Plane wave in arbitrary direction, Plane wave at dielectric interface

Plane wave propagating in an arbitrary direction

1. For a plane wave propagating in an unbounded, source-free, non-magnetic medium in an arbi-
trary direction r, derive the expression to represent the electric field E in terms of the wave vector
k and the magnetic field H, given by

H = H0 e j(ωt−k.r)

Solution: Ampere’s law in a source free medium (J = 0) is given by

∂D ∂E
∇×H = = ϵ0 ϵ r = jωϵ0 ϵr E
∂t ∂t

x̂ ŷ ẑ
1
∂/∂x ∂/∂y ∂/∂z = E
jωϵ0 ϵr
Hx Hy Hz

Magnetic field of a plane wave propagating in a arbitrary direction can be expressed as

H = H0 e j(ωt−k.r) = H0 e jωt e− j(k x x+ky y+kz z)

Since it is a uniform plane wave the vector H0 is spatially independent. Therefore,

∂ ∂ ∂
= − jk x ; = − jk y ; = − jk z ;
∂x ∂y ∂z

x̂ ŷ ẑ
1
− jk x − jk y − jk z = E
jωϵ0 ϵr
Hx Hy Hz

−j −1
(k × H) = E ⇒ E = (k × H)
jωϵ0 ϵr ωϵ0 ϵr

2. The electric field of a plane wave in a non-magnetic, charge free medium is given by

E = ( a x̂ − 2ŷ + 5ẑ)e j(ωt−2x−10y+6z) [V/m]

(i) Write down the wave vector k of the plane wave, (ii) calculate the unknown constant a , (iii)
the corresponding magnetic field H and (iv) from the calculated H field, prove that the angle
between E and H is fields is equal to 90o . Consider f = 1 GHz, ϵr = 2.5.

Solution: (i) From the given electric field expression we can write the dot product of wave
vector k and the position vector r(= x x̂ + yŷ + zẑ) as

k.r = 2x + 10y − 6z ⇒ k = 2x̂ + 10ŷ − 6ẑ [1/m]

 (ii) For the unknown constant, we know that k.E = 0

(2x̂ + 10ŷ − 6ẑ).( a x̂ − 2ŷ + 5ẑ) = 0

2a − 20 − 30 = 0 ⇒ a = 25
(iii) The magnetic field in terms of wave vector k and electric field can be given as

1
H= (k × E)
ωµ

x̂ ŷ ẑ
1
ωµ = (2π109 ) × (4π10−7 ) = 800π 2 ; H = 2 10 − 6 e j(ωt−2x−10y+6z)
800π 2
25 −2 5

1
H= (38x̂ − 160ŷ − 254ẑ)e j(ωt−2x−10y+6z) [A/m]
800π 2
(iv) The angle between the vectors E and H field is written as

E.H
cos θ =
|E||H|

E.H = (25 × 38) + (160 × 2) − (254 × 5) = 0

Therefore, the angle θ = π/2

Phase and Group velocities

3. A 100 MHz plane wave is launched at an angle θ from the ground. The wavelength along the
ground is measured to be 5 m.
a) Find the value of θ.
b) What is the phase velocity of the wave along the ground surface and in the vertical direction?
c) What is the group velocity along the vertical direction?
d) How can the phase velocities be greater than the speed of light? Can we transmit information
at such speeds?

Solution: Let the ground surface be x axis,

Vpx
λx = =5m (given)
f
f = 100MHz (given)
a)
c
v Px =
cos θ
3 × 108 1
⇒ 6
· =5
100 × 10 cos θ
⇒ cos θ = 3/5 ⇒ θ = cos−1 (3/5) = 53.13◦
b)
3 × 108
v px = = 5 × 108 m/s
(3/5)

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 c c 15
v py = ◦
= = × 108 = 3.75 × 108 m/s
cos(90 − θ ) sin θ 4

c)
12
v gy = c cos(90◦ − θ ) = × 108 m/s = 2.4 × 108 m/s
5
d)

For geometrical simplicity let us consider a plane wave travelling in the y : z plane. Let a
wavefront intersect the y-axis at point A at time t = t1 . After a time ∆t the point A moves to
A′ . The phase front now intersects the y-axis at B’ which corresponds to point B at the wave-
front at time t = t1 . While calculating the phase velocity along y-direction or z-direction,
we do not actually find the distance travelled by a particular point on the wavefront but
find the distance between two different points on the wavefront. Consequently, we get a
velocity which appears to violate the physical laws (like velocity > c ). The velocity of energy
corresponds to the distance travelled by point A from A to A′ .

We can therefore conclude that the phase velocity is not a velocity of a physical point on
the wavefront and hence is not guided by the physical laws.

4. Shallow water is nondispersive; waves travel at a speed that is proportional to the square root of
the depth. In deep water, however, the wave can’t ”feel” all the way down to the bottom- they
behave as though the depth were proportional to λ. (Actually, the distinction between ”shallow”
and ”deep” itself depend on the wavelength: If the depth is less than λ,the water is ”shallow”; if
it is substantially greater than λ, the water is ”deep”.) Show that the wave velocity of deep water
waves is twice the group velocity.

√ 2π ω
Solution: We are told that v = A λ, where A is a constant. But λ = k and v = k.
=⇒ Now, we can convert λ into wavenumber k,
Group velocity,
dω 1 1
vg = =p √ .
dk 2 K
and wave velocity,
ω 1
v= = p√ .
k K

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 Polarization of waves propagating in arbitrary direction

5. Two sinusoidally time varying, linearly polarized vector fields are given at a point by

F1 = (C aˆx + C aˆy + aˆz )cos(ωt)

F2 = (C aˆx + aˆy − 2aˆz )sin(ωt)

Where C is a constant.
(a) Determine the polarization of the vector F1 + F2 for C = 2.
(b) Find the values of C for which the vector F1 + F2 is a circularly polarized wave.

Solution: Let F1 = F1 cos ωt and F2 = F2 sin ωt, where F1 , F2 are vectors in arbitrary direction
F1 + F2 = F1pcos ωt + F2 sin ωt
|F1 + F2 | = | F1 cos ωt|2 + | F2 sin ωt|2 + 2F1 · F2 sin ωt cos ωt
For the resultant to be circular polarized wave | F1 | = | F2 | and F1 · F2 = 0
(a) For C = 2, | F1 | = | F2 | = 3. Since F1 · F2 ̸= 0, F1 and F2 are not along perpendicular direc-
tions. The combination of two linear components with different amplitudes and/or a phase
difference that is not π/2 will form elliptically polarized fields. Hence their sum will be el-
liptically polarized.

(b) For F1 + F2 to produce a circularly polarized wave, F1 · F2 = 0

=⇒ C = -2 or 1 and | F1 | = | F2 |, hence the only solution is C = -2

Plane wave at dielectric interface

6. Snell’s law: A light beam is incident from air to a medium with a dielectric constant 4 and
relative permeability 100 . If the angle of incidence is 60◦ . Find the angle of reflection and angle
of refraction.

Solution: The angle of reflection θr = angle of incidence θi = 60◦ .

From the Snell’s law,
√ √
µ1 ϵ1 sin θi =
µ2 ϵ2 sin θt
√
q
⇒ µ0 ϵ0 sin 60◦ = µ0 (100)ϵ0 (4) sin θt
sin 60◦
sin θt =
20
= 0.0433
⇒ Angle of refraction θt = 2.48◦

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