Module 2: Electrostatics Lecture 8: Properties of Conductors
Module 2: Electrostatics Lecture 8: Properties of Conductors
Module 2: Electrostatics Lecture 8: Properties of Conductors
Electrostatic Shielding
As
(This does not suggest that there is no charge inside, only that the positive and negative charges cancel inside
a conductor.)
Free charges exist only on the surface of a conductor. Since there is no net charge inside, free
charges, if any, have to be on the surface.
At the surface of a conductor, the electric field is normal to the surface. If this were not so, the
charges on the surface would move along the surface because of the tangential component of the field,
disturbing equilibrium.
Another way of looking at what is happening is to think of the free charges in the conductor being attracted
towards (or repelled from) the external charge. Thus the surface of the conductor towards the external charge is
oppositely charged. To keep the charge neutrality, the surface away from the external charge is similarly
charged.
Example 9
A charge
is distributed in the
. The flux and therefore, the charge enclosed is zero within the gaussian surface. As
distributed charge
over the surface of the sphere gives the same field as that of a point charge located
at the centre.
Exercise
Consider the system of conductors shown with two cavities. A charge
is kept at the center. (i) Determine
the charge distributions on the surfaces marked 1,2,3 and 4, (ii) Is the potential of surface 1 lower, higher or
same as that of surface 2 ? (iii) Is the potential of surface 4 lower, higher or same as that of surface 1 ?
(Answer : (i)
Example 10
Calculate the electric field outside a conductor carrying a surface charge density
with
inside and
Exercise 1
Two parallel, infinite plates made of material of perfect conductor, carry charges
and
finite thickness. Show that the charge densities on the two adjecent inside surfaces are equal and opposite
while that on the two outside
surfaces are equal.
(Hint : Field inside the plates due to four charged surfaces must be zero.)
ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL
Electrostatic force is a conservative force, i.e., the work done by the force in moving a test charge from one
point to another is independent of the path connecting the two points.
Example 11
Calculate the work done by the electric field due to a charge
where
which depends only on the end points. Line integral of the electric field around any closed path is zero.
Consider the line integral
L.H.S. is the line integral of the electric field along the closed loop,
Since the work done by the electric field is independent of path, we may write
where
is a scalar function which depends only on the end points A and B of integration. By property
of integrals
where
is
where
and
. The
absolute value of the potential at a position is meaningless unless we define a reference position at which the
potential is zero. Since Coulomb force vanishes only at infinite distances from a source, it is convenient to take
infinity to be such a reference position. Thus, the potential at a position
is
It may be noted that such a reference point is an inappropriate choice for some infinite distribution of charges
(e.g. a line charge) where the field does not fall off fast enough to make the integral above vanish.
Example 12
Potential due to a uniform electric field
to be at the origin,
Example 13
Obtain an expression for the potential at a distance
density
Solution
The electric field due to the charge distribution at a point P located at a distance
where
is
is along the perpendicular from the point P to the line charge, as shown (the direction is opposite if
line charge density is negative). The potential difference between the point
obtained by calculating the value of the integral
and
to the point
is
. As the integral is
are parallel.
to be infinite will make the integral diverge. In this case, it it is convenient to take
Exercise 1
Find the potential at a height
above a uniformly charged infinite plane having a charge density
good reference point for the zero of the potential ?
[Ans.
, with
. What is a
Unit of Potential
Since potential is the energy per unit charge, the unit of potential is Joule/Coulomb, which is called a volt . The
unit of the electric field which we have so far been using as Newton/Coulomb is more commonly referred as
volt/meter.
Potential Function satisfies Superposition Principle
. The electric field at a point due to the distrbution of charges
at P is
The potential
where
) is
where
In one dimension,
Differentiate both sides with respect to the upper limit of integration, i.e.
which gives
In cartesian coordinates,
Example 14
In a certain region of space, the potential function is given by the expression
where the potential is measured in volts and the distances in meters. Determine the electric field at the point
.
Solution :
Using
Substituting for
and
Exercise 2
The potential in a certain region of space is given by the function
Find the y-component of the electric field at
(Ans.
Exercise 3
Find the potential at a distance
Using this determine the electric field at the point. (Compare your result for the electric field with the field
calculated in Example 2.)
where the surface integral is over any surface bounded by the closed curve. As the surface
long as it is bounded by the same curve) , the integrand must vanish. Hence,
is arbitrary (as
force is the only force acting on the particle, its kinetic energy would decrease by a similar amount.
Let the charge have a velocity
at the position P
.If it moves to a
position
P
conservation
to the potential
theorem"
Volt,the unit of potential difference,may be interpreted as follows.If a charge of one coulomb moves through a
potential difference such that in the new position the potential is lower by 1 Volt,the kinetic energy of the
charge increases by 1Joule.
Electron Volt
In atomic and nuclear physics, a commonly used unit of energy is electron volt. An electron volt is the change
in the kinetic energy of an electron when it is taken through a potential difference of one volt. Thus,
Example 15
An
- particle with a kinetic energy of 1 MeV is projected towards a stationary nucleus with a charge
. Neglecting the motion of the nucleus, determine the distance of closest approach of the
- particle.
Solution :
-particle = 1 Mev =
eV.
At the distance of closes approach, the velocity (and the kinetic energy) of the
- particle is zero. Hence, all its
kinetic energy has been converted into potential energy. The potential energy (reference at infinity) at a
distance
is
m.
Recap
In this lecture you have learnt the following
Conductors are those in which there are free carriers which conduct electricity. In an equilibrium
situation, electric field cannot exist inside a conductor.
Electric field may exist on the surface of a conductor which must then be directed normal to the surface
of the conductor.
When a conductor is placed in an electric field, charges may be induced on the surface of a conductor.
Electric field being a conservative field of force, the work done only depends on the end points and not on
the path connecting them. This enables us to define a potential for the field whose negative gradient
gives the electric field.
As the electric potential is a scalar, it is convenient to compute the potential for a charge distribution and
use this to calculate the electric field using superposition principle.
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