ELECTROSTATE

Coulomb’s Law
Electrical field due to any charge configuration

Gauss’s Law
Charge distribution is symmetrical

Assume the electric field is in a vacuum or free space

D. P. SINGH
 Electromagnetic Theory

Medical diagnosis; electrical activity of organs

[eyes, ears and stomach]
Electrostatics

Industry; paint spray, Electro deposition,

separation of fine particles.

Agriculture; sort seeds, moisture content of

crops etc
 Coulomb’s Law
Coulomb’s law is the “law of action” between
charged bodies.

Coulomb’s law gives the electric force between two

point charges in an otherwise empty universe.

A point charge is a charge that occupies a region of

space which is negligibly small compared to the
distance between the point charge and any other
object.

4
 Coulomb’s Law
It states that the force F between two point charges Q1 and Q2 is
directly proportional to the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance joining these charges.

kQ 1 Q
F  2
2
R
In vector form;

Or

If we have more than two point

charges; The Principal of superposition
5
 Electric Field Intensity
The electric field describes the effect of a stationary charge on
other charges and is an abstract “action-at-a-distance” concept,
very similar to the concept of a gravity field.
electric field intensity is the force experienced by a unit positive charge
The basic units of electric field are Newton's per Coulomb.

In practice, we usually use volts per meter.

Electric Field Intensity is the force per unit F

charge when placed in the Electric Field E 
Q
In vector form;
If we have more than
two point charges;
The Principal of
superposition
6
 Electric Field Intensity

Electric Field due to Continuous Charge Distribution

If there is a continuous charge; distribution say along a line, on

a surface, or in a volume
The charge element dQ
and the total charge Q
due to these charge
Distributions can obtained
by;

7
 Electric Field due to Continuous Charge Distribution
The electric field intensity due to each charge distribution
ρL, ρS and ρV may be given by the summation of the field
contributed by the numerous point charges making up the
charge distribution.

8
 A Line Charge
Consider a line charge with uniform charge density ρL extending
from A to B along the z-axis.
The charge element dQ
associated with element dl = dz
of the line is

The total charge Q is

The electric field intensity E at an

arbitrary point P (x, y, z) can be
given by

The field point is generally denoted by (x, y, z) and the source

point as (x’, y’, z’). So from fig…
 Electric Field Intensity due to Line Charge

Further R may be written as;

Hence intensity equation becomes

 Electric Field Intensity due to Line Charge
To evaluate this, we should define , 1 and 2 as in given fig. ;
From triangle TPdl; Sec = R /  so R =  Sec or,  = R Cos
or

Further; From triangle TPdl;

tan = z-z’ / 
So, z-z’ =  tan
or, z’ = z -  tan
or, z’ = OT -  tan
or, dz’ = -  sec2 d 
putting these values in last equ.
 Electric Field Intensity due to Line Charge
Or,

So for a finite line charge, we have;

So as a special case, for an finite line charge, if point B is at

(0,0,) and A is at (0,0,-). Then 1 = /2 and 2 = -/2. So
z-component will vanish then we have;
 Electric Field Intensity due to Surface Charge
Consider an infinite sheet of charge in the xy plane with
uniform charge density ρS. The charge associated with an
elemental area dS is

And hence total charge is

The contribution to
Electric Field at Point P
(0, 0, h) by the
elemental surface is
 Electric Field Intensity due to Surface Charge

Substitution of these
terms in Electric Field
equation gives
 Electric Field Intensity due to Surface Charge
Due to the symmetry of
charge distribution, for
every element 1, there is
a corresponding element
2 whose contribution
along aρ cancels that of
element 1.

So E has only z-
component

In general for an
infinite sheet of
charge
 Electric Flux Density
The electric field intensity depends on the medium in which the
charges are placed.
Suppose a vector field D independent of the medium D   E
o
is defined by
The electric flux ψ in terms of D can be defined as    D . dS
The vector field D is called the electric flux density and is
measured in coulombs per square meter.
electric flux density is the amount of flux that passes through the unit surface area
For an infinite sheet the electric field intensity D is given by

For a volume charge distribution the electric field intensity

D is given by

In both the above equations D is a function of charge and position only

(independent of medium)
 Gauss Law
It states that the total electric flux ψ through any closed surface
is equal to the total charge enclosed by that surface.   Qenc

Using Divergence Theorem

Comparing the two volume integrals

This is the first Maxwell’s equation.

It states that the volume charge density is the same as the divergence
of the electric flux density.
 Electric Potential
The potential at any point due to a point charge Q
located at the origin is

The potential at any point is the potential difference between that point and a
chosen point at which the potential is zero.
Electric potential is the total workdone in bringing unit positive test charge from one point to
other
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

If VAB is negative, there is loss in potential energy in moving Q from

A to B (work is being done by the field), if VAB is positive, there is a
gain in potential energy in the movement (an external agent does the
work).

It is independent of the path taken. It is measured in Joules per

Coulomb referred as Volt.
Electric Potential
Relationship between E and V
 Dielectrics

dielectrics are the materials that are very poor condutors of electric current or insulators

polar molecules are subustances inn which distribution of electrons among atoms is
uneven

non polar substances in which electrons among atoms are equally shared . these have
zero dipole moment
In case of non polar molecules, the centre of gravity of positive and
negative charges coincide, so these molecules do not have any
permanent dipole moment. Some common examples of non-polar
molecules are H2, N2, O2.

When a non polar molecule is placed in an electric field, the centers of

positive and negative charges get displaced and the molecules are said
to have been polarized.

Such a molecule is called induced electric dipole and its electric dipole
moment is called induced electric dipole moment.

So the polarization is a phenomenon in which an alignment of

positive and negative charges takes place with in the dielectric
resulting no net increase in the charge of the dielectric.
 Polarization in Dielectrics
Consider an atom of the dielectric consisting of an electron cloud (-Q)
and a positive nucleus (+Q).
When an electric field E is applied, the positive charge is displaced
from its equilibrium position in the direction of E by F  Q E while
the negative charge is displaced by F  Q E in the opposite direction.

A dipole results from the displacement of charges and the dielectric is

polarized. In polarized the electron cloud is distorted by the applied
electric field.
This distorted charge distribution is equivalent to the original
distribution plus the dipole whose moment is
p  Qd
where d is the distance vector between -Q to +Q.
If there are N dipoles in a volume Δv of the dielectric, the total dipole
moment due to the electric field

For the measurement of intensity of polarization, we define

polarization P (coulomb per square meter) as dipole moment per unit
volume
The major effect of the electric field on the dielectric is the creation of
dipole moments that align themselves in the direction of electric field.
This type of dielectrics are said to be non-polar. eg: H2, N2, O2
Other types of molecules that have in-built permanent dipole moments
are called polar. eg: H2O, HCl
When electric field is applied to a polar material then its permanent
dipole experiences a torque that tends to align its dipole moment in the
direction of the electric field.
 Electric Dipole

An electric dipole is formed when two point charges of equal

magnitude but of opposite sign are separated by a small distance.
dipole moment is the separation of
two opposite charges
The potential at P (r, θ, Φ) is

If r >> d, r2 - r1 = d cosθ
and r1r2 = r2 then
But d cos   d .ar where d  d a z

If we define p  Q d as the dipole moment, then

The potential dV at an external point O due to Pdv '

The dipole moment p is directed from –Q to +Q.

if the dipole center is not at the origin but at r ' then
 Field due to a Polarized Dielectric
Consider a dielectric material consisting of dipoles with Dipole
moment P per unit volume.
'
The potential dV at an external point O due to Pdv

(i)

where R2 = (x-x’)2+(y-y’)2+(z-z’)2 and R is

the distance between volume element dv’ and
the point O.
But

So

Applying the vector identity

= -
Put this in (i) and integrate over the entire volume v’ of the dielectric

Applying Divergence Theorem to the first term

(ii)

where an’ is the outward unit normal to the surface dS’ of the dielectric
The two terms in (ii) denote the potential due to surface and volume
charge distributions with densities;
where ρps and ρpv are the bound surface and volume charge densities.
Bound charges are those which are not free to move in the dielectric
material.
Equation (ii) says that where polarization occurs, an equivalent
volume charge density, ρpv is formed throughout the dielectric while
an equivalent surface charge density, ρps is formed over the surface of
dielectric.
The total positive bound charge on surface S bounding the dielectric is

while the charge that remains inside S is

 Total charge on dielectric remains zero (as was prior to the application
of an electric field).

Total charge =

We now consider the case in which dielectric contains free charge. If ρv

is the free volume charge density then the total volume charge density ρt
is given by

Hence

Where
So, we may say that, the net effect of the dielectric on the electric field E
is to increase D inside it by an amount P .
The polarization would vary directly as the applied electric field.

Where  e is known as the electric susceptibility of the material

It is a measure of how susceptible a given dielectric is to electric fields.

Dielectric Constant and Strength

We know that and
Thus

or

where    o r

and
where є is the permittivity of the dielectric, єo is the permittivity of the
free space and єr is the dielectric constant or relative permittivity.
So, dielectric constant or relative permittivity єr is the ratio of
permittivity of the dielectric (єo) to that of free space.

No dielectric is ideal. When the electric field in a dielectric is

sufficiently high then it begins to pull electrons completely out of the
molecules, and the dielectric becomes conducting.

When a dielectric becomes conducting then it is called dielectric

breakdown. It depends on the type of material, humidity, temperature
and the amount of time for which the field is applied.

The minimum value of the electric field at which the dielectric

breakdown occurs is called the dielectric strength of the dielectric
material. Or
The dielectric strength is the maximum value of the electric field that a
dielectric can tolerate or withstand without breakdown.
 Continuity Equation and Relaxation Time

According to principle of charge conservation, the time rate of

decrease of charge within a given volume must be equal to the net
outward current flow through the closed surface of the volume.
The current Iout coming out of the closed surface;

(i)

where Qin is the total charge enclosed by the closed surface.

Using divergence theorem

But
Equation (i) now becomes

or (ii)

This is called the continuity of current equation. And states that there
can be no accumulation of charge at any point.
For steady current, and hence showing that the
total charge leaving a volume is the same as total charge entering it,
showing the validity of Kirchoff’s law.
Effect of introducing charge at some interior point of a
conductor/dielectric

According to Ohm’s law

According to Gauss’s law

Equation (ii) now becomes

or

This is homogeneous liner ordinary differential equation. By separating

variables we get

Integrating both sides

 (iii)

where

Equation (iii) shows that as a result of introducing charge at some

interior point of the material there is a decay of the volume charge
density ρv.
The time constant Tr is known as the relaxation time or the relaxation
time.

Relaxation time is the time in which a charge placed in the interior

of a material to drop to e-1 = 36.8 % of its initial value.

For Copper Tr = 1.53 x 10-19 sec (short for good conductors)

For fused Quartz Tr = 51.2 days (large for good dielectrics)
 Boundary Conditions
If the field exists in a region consisting of two different media, the
conditions that the field must satisfy at the interface separating the
media are called boundary conditions.
These conditions are helpful in determining the field on one side of the
boundary when the field on other side is known.
We will consider the boundary conditions at an interface separating;
1. Dielectric (єr1) and Dielectric (єr2)
2. Conductor and Dielectric
3. Conductor and free space
For determining boundary conditions we will use Maxwell’s equations

Where Qenc is free charge enclosed in surface. Further we have to split

electric field intensity in to two orthogonal components;
E = Et + E n (tangential and normal components at interface)
 Boundary Conditions (Between two different dielectrics)

Consider the E field existing in a region consisting of two different

dielectrics characterized by є1 = є0 єr1 and є2 = є0 єr2

E1 and E2 in the media 1 and 2

can be written as
     
E1  E1t  E1n and E2  E2t  E2 n

But

Assuming that the path abcda is very

small with respect to the variation in E
As Δh 0

Thus the tangential components of E are the same on the two sides of
the boundary. E is continuous across the boundary.

But

Thus

or

Here Dt undergoes some change across the surface and is said to be

discontinuous across the surface.
Applying

Putting Δh 0 gives

Where ρs is the free charge density placed deliberately at the boundary

If there is no charge on the boundary i.e. ρs = 0 then

Thus the normal components of D is continuous across the surface.

Analogy between Electric and Magnetic Field