Module 2: Electrostatics Lecture 10: Poisson Equations: Objectives

Module 2 : Electrostatics
Lecture 10 : Poisson Equations

Objectives
In this lecture you will learn the following
Poisson's equation and its formal solution
Equipotential surface
Capacitors - calculation of capacitance for parallel plate, spherical and cylindrical capacitors
Work done in charging a capacitor

Poisson Equation
Differential form of Gauss's law,
Using
so that
This is Poisson equation. In cartesian form,
A formal soltion to Poisson equation can be written down by using the property Dirac - function discussed
earlier. It can be seen that
Operating with
to variable
operator on both sides (The subscrpt
We had shown that
substituting which the expression follows.

Equipotential surface
indicates that
here is to be taken with respect
Equipotential surfaces are defined as surfaces over which the potential is constant
At each point on the surface, the electric field is perpendicular to the surface since the electric field, being the
gradient of potential, does not have component along a surface of constant potential.
We have seen that any charge on a conductor must reside on its surface. These charges would move
along the surface if there were a tangential component of the electric field. The electric field must
therefore be along the normal to the surface of a conductor. The conductor surface is, therefore, an
equipotential surface.
Electric field lines are perpendicular to equipotential surfaces (or curves) and point in the direction from
higher potential to lower potential.
In the region where the electric field is strong, the equipotentials are closely packed as the gradient is
large.
Click here for Animation

The electric field strength at the point P may be found by finding the slope of the potential at the point P. If
is the distance between two equipotential curves close to P,
where
is the difference between the two equipotential curves near P.
Example 17
Determine the equipotential surface for a point charge.
Solution :
Let the point charge
be located at the origin. The equation to the equipotential surface is given by

Thus the surfaces are concentric spheres with the origin (the location of the charge) as the centre and radii
given by
The equipotential surfaces of an electric dipole is shown below.

Example 18
Determine the equipotential surface of an infinite line charge carrying a positive charge density
Solution :
Let the line charge be along the z- axis. The potential due to a line charge at a point P is given by
where
is the distance of the point P from the line charge. Since the line charge along the z-axis,
so that
The surface
is given by
i.e.
which represent cylinders with axis along the z-axis with radii

As
increases, radius becomes smaller. Thus the cylinders are packed closer around the axis, showing that
the field is stronger near the axis.

Exercise 1
Determine the equipotential surface of an infinite plane with charge density

Capacitance
Consider a spherical conductor of radius
carrying a charge
. The potential of the sphere is given by
The potential of the conductor is proportional to the charge it contains. This linear relationship is true in
general, independent of the shape of the conductor,
The constant of proportionality
is called the capacitance of the conductor. For the conducting sphere the
capacitance is
Unit of capacitance :
The M.K.S. unit of capacitance is Coulomb/Volt which is called a Farad. However, one Farad turns out to be very
large capacitance (the capacitance of the Earth is approximately 700 micro-Farad). A more practical unit of
capacitance is a micro-Farad (
) or a pico- Farad (pF) :
Capacitor :
A capacitor is essentially a device consisting of an arrangement of conductors for storing charges. As a
consequence, it also stores electrostatic energy. The simplest capacitor consists of two conductors, one carrying
a charge
and the other a charge
. Let
be the potential of the first conductor and
that of the
second. Since the conductor is an equipotential surface, the potential difference between the conductors
is also constant, and is given by
where the line integral is carried out along any path joining the two conductors. The electric field is proportional
to the charge
since if the charge on each conductor is multiplied by a constant
hence the electric field also gets multiplied by the same factor. Thus
, the charge density and
is proportional to the potential
difference
where
is the capacitance of the conductor pair.
A capacitor consisting of a single conductor (like the spherical conductor described above) may be considered to
be one part of a conductor pair where the second conductor containing the opposite charge is at infinity.
Parallel Plate Capacitor :
A parallel plate capacitor consists of two parallel metal plates, each of area
potential difference
separated by a distance
is maintained between the two plates. If the charge on the positive plate is
. A
and that
on the negative plate is
, the electric field in the region between the two plates is

The potential difference between the plates is
The capacitance
is
Spherical Capacitor :
The spherical capacitor consists of two concentric spherical conducting shells of radii
and

The electric field at a distance
radial and is given by
from the centre is calculated by using the Gaussian surface shown. The fileld is
The voltage drop between the shells is obtained by integrating the electric field along a radial path (the electric
field being conservative, the path of integration is chosen as per our convenience) from the negative plate to
the positrive plate.
The capacitance is
Cylindrical Conductor :
A cylindrical capacitor consists of two long coaxial conducting cylinders of length
and radii
and
. The
electric field in the space between the cylinders may be calculated by Gauss Law, using a pillbox in the shape of
a short coaxial cylinder of length
and radius
direction and depends only on the distance
. Neglecting edge effects, the field is in the radial
from the axis.

The contribution to the flux from the end caps of the pillbox is zero as the field is along the surface. The field at
a distance
where
is given by
is the charged enclosed by the pillbox, which is given in terms of the surface charge density
inner cylinder by
The field at a distance
is given by
The potential difference between the cylindrical conductors is
on the
Substituting
the capacitance is given by
Work Done in Charging a Capacitor :

Consider a parallel plate capacitor. The process of charging a capacitor consists of removing negative charges
(electrons) from the positive plate and depositing them on the negative plate.
, so that the potential difference between the
Suppose at a particular instant, the charge on the plates are

plates is
. To transport an infinitisimal charge
from the positive plate to the negative plate, the work
done by an external agency is
Total work done in charging the plates from
In terms of potential difference
to
is
This is the amount of energy stored in the capacitor.

One can also get the same expression by using the expression for the energy of a charge distribution derived
earlier
For a parallel plate capacitor
within the volume
of the capacitor and zero outside. Hence
Exercise 1
Obtain an expression for the energy of a spherical capacitor of radii
and
containing charges
[Ans.
Recap
In this lecture you have learnt the following
Poisson's equation relates the potential to charge density. A formal solution to Poisson's equation was
obtained.
A equipotential surface is one on which the potential is constant. The electric field on an equipotential
surface can only have component normal to the surface.
The potential of a conductor is proportional to the charge it contains, the constant of proportionality is
known as the capacitance of the conductor. A capacitor is a device to store charges and hence it also
stores electrostatic energy.
The capacitance for a parallel plate capacitor is proportional to the surface area and inversely
proportional to the separation between its plates.
Capacitance for spherical and cylindrical capacitors were calculated. The work done in charging a
capacitor was also calculated.

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Module 2 : Electrostatics

Lecture 10 : Poisson Equations

Work done in charging a capacitor

This is Poisson equation. In cartesian form,

operator on both sides (The subscrpt

We had shown that

substituting which the expression follows.

here is to be taken with respect

Click here for Animation

is the difference between the two equipotential curves near P.

Let the point charge

be located at the origin. The equation to the equipotential surface is given by

Click here for Animation

The equipotential surfaces of an electric dipole is shown below.

Click here for Animation

Click here for Animation

the field is stronger near the axis.

Determine the equipotential surface of an infinite plane with charge density

. The potential of the sphere is given by

The constant of proportionality

) or a pico- Farad (pF) :

and the other a charge

be the potential of the first conductor and

since if the charge on each conductor is multiplied by a constant

, the charge density and

is proportional to the potential

on the negative plate is

, the electric field in the region between the two plates is

Click here for Animation

Click here for Animation

direction and depends only on the distance

. Neglecting edge effects, the field is in the radial

from the axis.

Click here for Animation

The field at a distance

The potential difference between the cylindrical conductors is

the capacitance is given by

Work Done in Charging a Capacitor :

Suppose at a particular instant, the charge on the plates are

. To transport an infinitisimal charge

from the positive plate to the negative plate, the work

done by an external agency is

Total work done in charging the plates from

In terms of potential difference

This is the amount of energy stored in the capacitor.

For a parallel plate capacitor

within the volume

of the capacitor and zero outside. Hence

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