Electrostatic

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Electrostatics Power Transmission Lines

Electrocardiogram Machine
Particle separating Mach
ELECTROSTATIC FIELDS-
COULOMB’S LAW AND
FIELD INTENSITY
 Introduction
An electrostatic field is produced by a static charge distribution

Two fundamental laws governing electrostatic fields:

(1) Coulomb's law, and (2) Gauss's law

Both of these laws are based on experimental studies and they are
interdependent

Based on Coulomb's law, the concept of electric field intensity will

be introduced and applied to cases involving point, line, surface,
and volume charges
 Coulomb’s Law
Deals with the force a point charge exerts on another point charge

By a point charge we mean a charge that is located on a body whose

dimensions are much smaller than other relevant dimensions

Coulomb's law states that the force F between two point charges Q1
and Q2 is:

1. Along the line joining them

2. Directly proportional to the product Q1Q2 of the charges

3. Inversely proportional to the square of the distance R between

them
 Coulomb’s Law
Mathematically:

where 𝑘 = 1ൗ4𝜋𝜀𝑜 is the proportionality constant

In SI units, charges Q1 and Q2 are in coulombs (C), the distance R

is in meters (m), and the force F is in newton (N)

The constant 𝜀𝑜 is known as the permittivity of free space (in

farads per meter) and has the value:
 Coulomb’s Law
If point charges Q1 and Q2 are located at points having position
vectors r1 and r2, then the force F12 on Q2 due to Q1:

Where
 Coulomb’s Law
Using the equations on the previous slide, the relation for force
may also be written as:

OR
 Coulomb’s Law – Important Points
The force F21 on Q1 due to Q2 is given by:

OR , Since
 Coulomb’s Law – Important Points
Like charges (charges of the same sign) repel each other while
unlike charges attract, as illustrated below:

The distance R between the charged bodies Q1 and Q2 must be

large compared with the linear dimensions of the bodies; that is,
Q1 and Q2 must be point charges

Q1 and Q2 must be static (at rest)

The signs of Q1 and Q2 must be taken into account while solving

problems
 Coulomb’s Law – Principle of Superposition
If we have more than two point charges, we can use the principle
of superposition to determine the force on a particular charge

The principle states that if there are N charges Q1, Q2, …... QN
located, respectively, at points with position vectors r1, r2,….rN,
the resultant force F on a charge Q located at point r is the
vector sum of the forces exerted on Q by each of the charges Q1,
Q2, …... QN, that is:

OR
 Electric Field Intensity
The electric field intensity (or electric field strength) E is the
force per unit charge when placed in the electric field

The electric field intensity E is obviously in the direction of the

force F and is measured in newton/coulomb or volts/meter

The electric field intensity at point r due to a point charge

located at r' is obtained from Coulomb’s law as:
 Electric Field Intensity – Principle of
Superposition
For N point charges Q1, Q2,….., QN located at r1, r2,….., rN, the
electric field intensity at point r is obtained as:

OR
ELECTRIC FIELDS DUE TO
CONTINUOUS CHARGE
DISTRIBUTIONS –
LINE CHARGE
 Introduction
So far we have only considered forces and electric fields due to
point charges, which are essentially charges occupying very small
physical space

It is also possible to have continuous charge distribution along a

line, on a surface, or in a volume, as shown below:
 Introduction
It is customary to denote the line charge density, surface charge
density, and volume charge density by ρL (in C/m), ρs (in C/m2),
and ρv (in C/m3), respectively

These must not be confused with ρ (without subscript) used for

radial distance in cylindrical coordinates

The charge element dQ and the total charge Q due to line charge
distribution is obtained as:
 Line Charge Distribution
Practical example of a line charge distribution is a charged
conductor of very small radius and a sharp beam in a cathode-ray
tube

In the case of the electron beam the charges are in motion and it
is true that we do not have an electrostatic problem

However,
1. If the electron motion is steady and uniform (a DC beam) and
2. If we ignore for the moment the magnetic field which is
produced

The electron beam may be considered as composed of stationary

electrons
 Line Charge Distribution
The equation for electric field due to point charge is:

The electric field intensity due to line charge distribution ρL may

be regarded as the summation of the field contributed by the
numerous point charges making up the charge distribution

Thus by replacing Q in the equation with charge element dQ = ρL

dl, we get:

We shall now apply this formula to line charge distribution

 Line Charge Distribution
Consider a line charge with
uniform charge density ρL
extending from A to B along
the z-axis as shown in
figure below:

Since the field does not

vary with a variation in Φ,
for simplicity, we choose an
arbitrary point P(0,y,z) to
find the electric field
intensity at
 Line Charge Distribution
We will denote the field point by (x, y, z) and the source point by
(x', y', z')
We have from the figure:

Converting to cylindrical coordinates gives:

Therefore:

By substitution into the equation for E, we get:

 Line Charge Distribution
To evaluate the integral, it is convenient to define ∝, ∝1 and
∝2 shown in the figure

We get the following relations from the figure:

By substitution, the integral becomes:

 Line Charge Distribution
Thus for a finite line charge, we have:

As a special case, for an infinite line charge, point B is at (0,0,∞)

and A at (0,0,−∞)

𝜋 𝜋
So ∝1 = , ∝2 = − and the z-component vanishes (How?)
2 2

The above equation reduces to the equation below:

ρ is the perpendicular distance from the line to the point of interest

ELECTRIC FIELDS DUE TO
CONTINUOUS CHARGE
DISTRIBUTIONS –
SURFACE CHARGE
 Introduction
Another basic charge configuration is the infinite sheet of charge
having a uniform density of 𝜌𝑠 C/m2

Such a charge distribution may often be used to approximate the

charge found on the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor

For ease of derivation, the sheet of charge is considered to be

infinite

This is a good approximation since the distances involved in the

measurement of fields are generally small compared to the
dimensions of the sheet of charge
 Sheet of Charge
 infinite sheet of
charge in the xy-
plane with uniform
charge density 𝜌𝑠 .

We consider a small

portion of the sheet
having length dx and
width dy

Let the point of

observation be at
P(0,0,h)
 Sheet of Charge
The charge associated with an elemental area dS is:
𝑑𝑄 = 𝜌𝑠 𝑑𝑆 where 𝑑𝑆 = 𝑑𝑥𝑑𝑦

The sheet of charge may be assumed to consist of infinite

differential surfaces that extend from −∞ 𝑡𝑜 + ∞ in the X-Y
directions
The contribution of E-Field at the point ‘P’ due to the element
charge dQ, is represented by differential E-field dE:

From the Figure, we can derive these relations:

 Sheet of Charge
By substituting these relations in the E-Field equation, we get:

 The above relation is due to a small differential surface area,

but to account for the whole surface, while contribution from all
the differential surfaces are summed up, resulting total Electric
field intensity E.

E-Field will be along z-direction as all other components in the

radial directions cancel each other:
 Sheet of Charge
Therefore, we have the total electric field as:

 It is important to notice, E-Field does not depend on the

distance between sheet and point of observation.
 As the E-field is in Z-direction, which is the direction of surface
normal direction.

 In a parallel plate capacitor, the field exist between positively

charged plate and negatively charged plate. In that case E field
will be:
ELECTRIC FIELDS DUE TO
CONTINUOUS CHARGE
DISTRIBUTIONS –
VOLUME CHARGE
 Volume Charge
A volume charge may be visualized by a region of space with a
large number of charges separated by very small distances

We can replace this distribution of very small particles with a

smooth continuous distribution described by a volume charge
density

We denote the volume charge density by ρv, having the units of
coulombs per cubic meter (C/m3)
 Volume Charge

A volume charge
distribution with
uniform charge
density ρv is shown
in figure

We choose a
volume of the
shape of a cube
 Volume Charge
The charge dQ associated with the elemental volume dv is

The total charge is given as:

Here, elemental volume dv depends upon the shape of the

volume charge

From figure, we have the electric field due to dv at P(0,0,z) as:

𝜌𝑣 𝑑𝑣
𝑑𝑬 = 2
𝒂𝑹
4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑅
 Volume Charge
From the figure, aR may be written as:

Due to the symmetry of the charge distribution, the contributions

to Ex or Ey add up to zero

We are left with only Ez, given by:

We need to derive expressions for dv, R2, and 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝛼

 Volume Charge
Applying the cosine rule to the figure, we have:

It is convenient to evaluate the integral in terms of R and r‘

Hence we express cos θ', cos 𝛼, and sin θ' dθ' in terms of R and r',
that is:
 Volume Charge
Differentiating the above equation with respect to θ' keeping z
and r' fixed, we obtain:

Substituting values in the integral, we get:

 Volume Charge
Earlier, the total charge was given as:

If we assume that the whole volume charge has a spherical

volume with radius a, then:

Using this value in the equation for electric field, we get:

 Volume Charge
Due to the symmetry of the charge distribution, the electric field
at P(r,θ,Φ) is readily obtained as:

It may be observed that the above equation is identical to the

electric field at the same point due to a point charge Q located
at the origin or the center of the spherical charge distribution.
APPLICATIONS OF
GAUSS LAW
 Gauss’s Law
We will now consider how we may use the Gauss’s law below:

Concept of Electric Flux Density

The procedure for applying Gauss's law to calculate the electric

field involves first knowing whether symmetry exists

Once symmetric charge distribution exists, we construct a

mathematical closed surface (known as a Gaussian surface)
around the source of electric field
 Gauss’s Law
The solution to the Gauss’s law equation is easy if we are able to
choose a closed surface which satisfies two conditions:

1. Ds is everywhere either normal or tangential to the closed

surface, so that Ds.dS becomes either DsdS or zero, respectively

2. On that portion of the closed surface for which Ds.dS is not

zero, Ds = constant

We will now apply Gauss’s law to the four types of charged
sources, namely point, line, surface and volume charge
 A Point Charge
Suppose a point charge Q is located at the origin

To determine D at a point P, it is easy to see that choosing a

spherical surface containing P will satisfy symmetry conditions

 Thus, a spherical surface centered

at the origin is the Gaussian surface
in this case as shown in figure
 A Point Charge
Since D is everywhere normal to the Gaussian surface, that is, D =
Drar, applying Gauss's law (ψ = Qenclosed) gives:

2𝜋 𝜋 2
Where ‫׬ = 𝑆𝑑 ׬‬0 ‫׬‬0 𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃𝑑𝜃𝑑∅ = 4𝜋𝑟 2 is the surface area of the
Gaussian surface

Thus:

Which is the same result obtained previously

 Infinite Line Charge
Suppose the infinite line of uniform charge ρL C/m lies along the
z-axis as shown in figure

 To determine D at a point P, we
choose a cylindrical surface
containing P to satisfy symmetry
condition

 D is constant on and normal to the

cylindrical Gaussian surface; that is:
D = Dρaρ
 Infinite Line Charge
If we apply Gauss's law to an arbitrary length l of the line:

Where ‫ = 𝑆𝑑 ׬‬2𝜋𝜌𝑙 is the surface area of the Gaussian surface

Note that ‫𝐃 ׬‬. 𝑑𝐒 evaluated on the top and bottom surfaces of the
cylinder is zero since D has no z-component; that means that D is
tangential to those surfaces

Thus:

Which is the same result obtained previously

 Infinite Sheet of Charge
Consider the infinite sheet of uniform charge ρs C/m2 lying on the
z = 0 plane

 To determine D at point
P, we choose a
rectangular box that is
cut symmetrically by
the sheet of charge and
has two of its faces
parallel to the sheet
 Infinite Sheet of Charge
As D is normal to the sheet, D = Dzaz, and applying Gauss's law
gives:

Note that D.dS evaluated on the sides of the box is zero because
D has no components along ax and ay

If the top and bottom area of the box each has area A, the above
equation becomes:

And thus:

Or:
 Uniformly Charged Sphere
Consider a sphere of radius a with a uniform charge ρv C/m3

To determine D everywhere, we construct Gaussian surfaces for

cases 𝑟 ≤ 𝑎 and 𝑟 ≥ 𝑎 separately

 Since the charge has

spherical symmetry, it
is obvious that a
spherical surface is an
appropriate Gaussian
surface
 Uniformly Charged Sphere
For 𝒓 ≤ 𝒂, the total charge enclosed by the spherical surface of
radius r, as shown in figure (a), is:
 Uniformly Charged Sphere
Hence, 𝜓 = 𝑄𝑒𝑛𝑐 gives:

Or:

For 𝒓 ≥ 𝒂, the Gaussian surface is shown in figure (b)

The charge enclosed by the surface is the entire charge in this

case, that is:
 Uniformly Charged Sphere
We have the total flux as:

Hence from the previous two equations, we have:

Or:
 Uniformly Charged Sphere
Thus D everywhere is given as:

The sketch of |D| versus distance

from the center of the sphere is
shown:
 APPLICATION OF
GAUSS LAW – PROBLEM
SESSION
 Problem-1
Consider a coaxial cable where radius of the inner conductor is a
and that of outer conductor is b. The length of the conductor is L
and line charge density of the inner conductor is ρL. Determine
the electric field E in terms of ρL at the region:

a) Between the two conductors of the coaxial cable

b) Outside the coaxial cable
 Problem-2

If 𝐃 = (2𝑦 2 + 𝑧)𝐚𝐱 + 4𝑥𝑦𝐚𝐲 + 𝑥𝐚𝐳 C/m2, find

a) The volume charge density at (— 1, 0, 3)

b) The flux through the cube defined by 0 ≤ 𝑥 ≤ 1,0 ≤ 𝑦 ≤ 1,0 ≤
𝑧≤1
c) The total charge enclosed by the cube
 Problem-3

A charge distribution in free space has ρv = 2r nC/m3 for 0 ≤ 𝑟 ≤

10m and zero otherwise. Determine E at r = 2m and r = 12m
 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL
AND POTENTIAL ENERGY
 Introduction
The electric field intensity E due to a charge distribution can be
obtained from Coulomb's law in general or from Gauss's law when
the charge distribution is symmetric

It would be desirable if we could find some as yet undefined

scalar function with a single integration and then determine the
electric field from this scalar by some simple straightforward
procedure, such as differentiation

This scalar function does exist and is known as the potential or

scalar potential field

The method of obtaining E from the electric scalar potential V is

discussed in this lecture
 Electric Potential
Suppose we wish to move a point charge Q from point A to point B
in an electric field E

From Coulomb's law, the force on Q is F = QE so that the work

done in displacing the charge by dl is:
 Electric Potential
The negative sign indicates that the work is being done by an
external agent

Thus the total work done, or the potential energy required, in

moving Q from A to B is:

Dividing W by Q in the above equation gives the potential energy

per unit charge:

This quantity, denoted by VAB, is known as the potential difference

between points A and B
 Electric Potential – Important Points
1. In determining VAB, A is the initial point while B is the final point

2. If VAB is negative, there is a loss in potential energy in moving Q

from A to B; this implies that the work is being done by the field

3. If VAB is positive, there is a gain in potential energy in the

movement; an external agent performs the work

4. VAB is independent of the path taken (to be proved later)

5. VAB is measured in joules per coulomb, commonly referred to as

volts (V)
 Electric Potential - Point Charge
As an example, if the E field in the figure is due to a point charge
Q located at the origin, then:

Then the equation for potential difference between point A and B

becomes:

Or:

Here VA and VB are potentials or absolute potentials at A and B

 Electric Potential - Point Charge
Thus the potential difference VAB may be regarded as the potential
at B with reference to A

In problems involving point charges, it is customary to choose

infinity as reference where the potential is zero

Thus if VA = 0 as 𝑟𝐴 → ∞, the potential at any point (𝑟𝐵 → 𝑟) due to a

point charge Q located at the origin is:

If the point charge Q is not located at the origin but at a point
whose position vector is r', the potential V(x, y, z) or simply V(r) at
r becomes:
 Electric Potential - Point Charge
Note that because E points in the radial direction, any contribution
from a displacement in the 𝜃 𝑜𝑟 ∅ direction is wiped out by the dot
product, i.e.
𝐄. 𝑑𝐥 = 𝐸 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝑑𝑙 = 𝐸𝑑𝑟

Hence the potential difference VAB is independent of the path as

mentioned earlier (work done depends upon displacement)

The potential at any point is the potential difference between that

point and a chosen point at which the potential is zero

By assuming zero potential at infinity, the potential at a distance r

from the point charge is the work done per unit charge by an
external agent in transferring a test charge from infinity to that
point
 Electric Potential - Multiple Charges
The superposition principle, which we applied to electric fields,
applies to potentials

For n point charges Q1, Q2,….,Qn located at points with position

vectors r1, r2,…., rn, the potential at r is:

Or:
 Electric Potential - Charge Distributions
For continuous charge distributions, we replace Qk with charge
element ρL dl, ρs dS, or ρv dv and the summation becomes an
integration, so the potential at r becomes:

Where the primed coordinates are used to denote source point

location and the unprimed coordinates refer to field point
 Relationship Between E and V
As discussed, the potential difference between points A and B is
independent of the path taken, hence:

Therefore:

Or:

This shows that the line integral of E along a closed path as shown
must be zero

Physically, this implies that no net work is done in moving a charge

along a closed path in an electrostatic field
 Relationship Between E and V
Applying Stokes's theorem, we get:

Or:

Any vector field that satisfies the above equations is said to be

conservative

Thus an electrostatic field is a conservative field

The above equation is referred to as Maxwell's second equation for

static electric fields
 Relationship Between E and V
From the way we defined potential,𝑉 = − ‫𝐄 ׬‬. 𝑑𝐥, it follows that:

The differential of a scalar quantity may be written as:

By comparing we get:

As:
𝐄 = 𝐸𝑥 𝒂𝒙 + 𝐸𝑦 𝒂𝒚 +𝐸𝑧 𝒂𝒛

So we get:
 Relationship Between E and V
Therefore, the electric field intensity is the gradient of V

The negative sign shows that the direction of E is opposite to the

direction in which V increases or E is directed from higher to lower
levels of V

Since the curl of the gradient of a scalar function is always zero

(𝛻 × 𝛻𝑉 = 0), this implies that E must be a gradient of some scalar
function

So by using the potential difference V, a vector problem is reduced

to a scalar problem
ELECTRIC DIPOLE AND
ENERGY DENSITY
 Electric Dipole
An electric dipole is formed when two point charges of equal
magnitude but opposite sign are separated by a small distance

Example is the formation of dipoles in dielectric materials in the

presence of an electric field

Dipole moment is a measure of system’s overall polarity

The distance between the point charges is small compared to the

distance to the point P at which we want to know the electric
potential and potential fields
 Electric Dipole
Figure below shows an electric dipole:
 Potential due to Electric Dipole
The potential at point 𝑷(𝒓, 𝜽, ∅) is given by:

where r1 and r2 are the distances between P and +Q and P and -Q

respectively

If 𝑟 ≫ 𝑑, 𝑟2 − 𝑟1 ≈ 𝑑 cos 𝜃, 𝑟1 𝑟2 ≅ 𝑟 2 , the above becomes:

 Potential due to Electric Dipole
Since 𝑑 cos 𝜃 = 𝐝 ∙ 𝐚𝐫 , where d = daz, if we define:

as the dipole moment, the equation for potential becomes:

Note that the dipole moment p is directed from — Q to +Q

If the dipole center is not at the origin but at r', the above
equation becomes:
 Electric Field due to Electric Dipole
The electric field due to the dipole with center at the origin, can
be obtained readily as:

OR
 Electric Dipole
Notice that a point charge is a monopole and its electric field
varies inversely as r2 while its potential field (E) varies inversely
as r

From the equations for electric dipole, we notice that the

electric field due to a dipole varies inversely as r3 while its
potential varies inversely as r2

The electric fields due to successive higher-order multi-poles

(such as a quadrupole consisting of two dipoles or an octupole
consisting of two quadrupoles) vary inversely as r4, r5, r6,…. while
their corresponding potentials vary inversely as r3, r4, r5,….
 Electric Flux Lines
The idea of electric flux lines (or electric lines of force as they
are sometimes called) was introduced by Michael Faraday in his
experimental investigation as a way of visualizing the electric
field

An electric flux line is an imaginary path or line drawn in such a

way that its direction at any point is the direction of the electric
field at that point
 Equipotential Surfaces
Any surface on which the potential is the same throughout is
known as an equipotential surface

The intersection of an equipotential surface and a plane results in

a path or line known as an equipotential line (surface would be
like a sphere)

No work is done in moving a charge from one point to another

along an equipotential line or surface (VA - VB = 0) and hence:

From the above equation, we may conclude that the lines of

force or flux lines (or the direction of E) are always normal to
equipotential surfaces
 Equipotential Surfaces
Examples of equipotential surfaces for point charge and a dipole
are shown in figure (a) and (b), respectively
 Energy Density in Electrostatic Fields
To determine the energy present in an assembly of charges, we
must first determine the amount of work necessary to assemble
them

Suppose we wish to position three point charges Q1, Q2, and Q3 in

an initially empty space shown shaded in figure below
 Energy Density in Electrostatic Fields
No work is required to transfer Q1 from infinity to P1 because the
space is initially charge free and there is no electric field

The work done in transferring Q2 from infinity to P2 is equal to

the product of Q2 and the potential V21 at P2 due to Q1

Similarly, the work done in positioning Q3 at P3 is equal to Q3(V32 +

V31), where V32 and V31 are the potentials at P3 due to Q2 and Q1,
respectively

Hence the total work done in positioning the three charges is:
 Energy Density in Electrostatic Fields
If the charges were positioned in reverse order, we get:

where V23 is the potential at P2 due to Q3, V12 and V13 are,
respectively, the potentials at P1 due to Q2 and Q3

Adding the two equations above, we get:

 Energy Density in Electrostatic Fields
Or

where V1, V2, and V3 are total potentials at P1, P2, and P3,
respectively

In general, if there are n point charges, we have:

 Energy Density in Electrostatic Fields
If, instead of point charges, the region has a continuous charge
distribution, the summation in previous equation becomes
integration; that is:
 Energy Density in Electrostatic Fields
As 𝜌𝑣 = 𝛻 ∙ 𝐃, the volume charge equation may be written as:

By using vector identity, we get:

Since 𝐄 = −𝛁𝑉 and 𝐃 = 𝜀𝑜 𝐄, therefore: