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Lecture 9 Line Charge Surface Volume

The document discusses electric fields generated by continuous charge distributions, including line, surface, and volume charges. It explains the concepts of charge density and provides equations for calculating electric fields from these charge distributions. Practical examples and specific cases, such as infinite line charges and surface charge distributions, are also presented.

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muneebharoon261
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19 views13 pages

Lecture 9 Line Charge Surface Volume

The document discusses electric fields generated by continuous charge distributions, including line, surface, and volume charges. It explains the concepts of charge density and provides equations for calculating electric fields from these charge distributions. Practical examples and specific cases, such as infinite line charges and surface charge distributions, are also presented.

Uploaded by

muneebharoon261
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPTX, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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ELECTRIC FIELDS DUE

TO CONTINUOUS
CHARGE
DISTRIBUTIONS –
LINE CHARGE/SURFACE CHARGE/
VOLUME 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
 line charge density--- ρL (in C/m)
 surface charge density--- ρs (in C/m2)
 volume charge density ρv (in C/m3)

 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 , and
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,)
 So , and the z-component vanishes (How?)
 The above equation reduces to the equation below:

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


interest
Expression for Electric Field—
Surface Charge
In general for an infinite sheet of charge
• Where is the unit vector normal to the
sheet

• The electric field is independent of the


distance between the point of
observation and the sheet
• The intensity does not depend upon
any coordinate
• If we take P point anywhere intensity
would be same, but direction will
change
• If the point is located in the negative z-
axis then we can say or generally
• is the unit vector normal to the sheet
Expression for Electric Field—Surface
Charge
• In parallel plate capacitor two sheets
having equal and opposite charges. Their
Electric field is given by
Expression for Electric Field—
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.

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