Electrostatic

fields
Introduction
Applications:
Cathode ray tubes
Devices: Keyboards, touch
pads, LCDs
Machines: X-ray machines,
Electrocardigrams
Industrial processes: spray
painting, electrodeposition,
electrostatic separation of
solids

An electrostatic field is produced by a static charge
distribution.

Electrostatic Force
ANY charged object can exert the electrostatic force
upon other objects- both charged and uncharged
objects.
Coulombs Law- formula for
electrostatic force
this is similar to the gravitational force
F
g
= GmM
r
2
charge (q) is now
responsible for the force
F
e
= kq
1
q
2
r
2
Just like G was a constant so is k.
k is the electrostatic constant
and = 8.99 x 10
9
Nm
2
/C
2
Vector form of Coulombs
law
Problem 1:
Electric field due to continuous charge
distribution
Electric field due to infinite line charge
Homework : Infinite Surface Charge
Electric Flux

Lines of force in any particular electric field
is called the electric flux.
The flux lines start from positive charge and
terminate on the negative charge.
If one type of charges is absent?
More number of flux lines?
Do they cross each other?
We define electric flux in terms of electric
flux density (D)


The relation between D and E:
Gauss Law: Maxwells
first equation
Gauss's law states that the total electric flux
through any closed surface is equal to the total
charge enclosed by that surface. Thus



Applications of Gausss law
The Gauss law can be used to find electric field
for symmetrical charge distribution.
Gausss law can not be used to find electric field if
charge distribution is not symmetric; we must
resort to Coulombs law to determine electric field
in that case.



The calculation would be extremely difficult
because the electric field term occurs inside the
integral in the Gauss law equation.
However, in cases that have a high degree of
symmetry, it is possible to choose a Gaussian
surface such that the electric field term can be
moved outside of the integral.


Condition for selecting the
closed Gaussian surface
D
s
is everywhere either normal or
tangential to the Gaussian surface, so
that D
s
.dS becomes either D
s
dS or
zero, respectively.
On the portion of the closed surface for
which D
s
.dS is not zero, D
s
= Constant.
This allows us to replace the dot
product with D
s
dS and then to bring D
s

outside the integral sign.
Must know direction of electric field
from symmetry of problem.


There are three such symmetries for
which this procedure is possible,
corresponding to our three spatial
dimensions.
We have the full three-dimensional
symmetry of the sphere, the two-
dimensional symmetry of the infinite
cylinder, and the one-dimensional
symmetry of the infinite plane.
Infinite Line Charge:

r
Suppose the infinite line of uniform charge
L
C/m lies along the z-
axis. To determine D at a point P, we choose a cylindrical surface
containing P to satisfy symmetry condition as shown in Figure. D is
constant on and normal to the cylindrical Gaussian surface. If we
apply Gauss's law to an arbitrary length l of the line
Point Charge
Problem 3: Finite Line Charge
Electric Potential

In determining V
AB
, A is the initial point while B is the final point.
If V
AB
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. However, if V
AB
is
positive, there is a gain in potential energy in the movement; an external agent
performs the work.
V
AB
is independent of the path taken
V
AB
is measured in joules per coulomb, commonly referred to as volts (V).
Problem 2:
Consider an infinite line charge along
z-axis. Show that the work done is
zero if a point charge Q is moving in
a circular path of radius r, centered
at the line charge.
Concept of absolute potential
if the E field is due to a point
charge Q located at the origin,
then
where VB and VA are the absolute potentials
at B and A, respectively.
Absolute potentials are measured w.r.t.
a specified reference position. Such a
reference position is assumed to be at
zero potential. Here we assume the
potential at infinity is zero and hence,
we choose infinity as reference. Thus
the absolute potential at any point 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
For n point charges Q
1
Q
2
,. , Q
n
located at points with position
vectors r
1
, r
2
,. . ., r
n
, the potential at r is
Equipotential surfaces
Conservative Field
Relation between E and V:
Energy density in electrostatic field