A useful approach to the calculation of electric potentials is to relate that

potential to the charge density which gives rise to it. The electric field is
related to the charge density by the divergence relationship

and the electric field is related to the electric potential by a gradient
relationship

Therefore the potential is related to the charge density by Poisson's equation

In a charge-free region of space, this becomes LaPlace's equation

This mathematical operation, the divergence of the gradient of a function, is
called the LaPlacian. Expressing the LaPlacian in different coordinate systems
to take advantage of the symmetry of a charge distribution helps in the
solution for the electric potential V. For example, if the charge distribution
has spherical symmetry, you use the LaPlacian in spherical polar coordinates.
Since the potential is a scalar function, this approach has advantages over
trying to calculate the electric field directly. Once the potential has been
calculated, the electric field can be computed by taking the gradient of the
potential.
Example: sphere of uniform charge

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Electric
field
concepts

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Potential of a Uniform Sphere of Charge
The use of Poisson's and Laplace's equations will be explored for a uniform sphere of
charge. In spherical polar coordinates, Poisson's equation takes the form:


but since there is full spherical symmetry here, the derivatives with
respect to and must be zero, leaving the form

Examining first the region outside the sphere, Laplace's law applies.

Since the zero of potential is arbitrary, it is reasonable to choose the zero of potential at
infinity, the standard practice with localized charges. This gives the value b=0. Since the
sphere of charge will look like a point charge at large distances, we may conclude that

so the solution to LaPlace's law outside the sphere is

Now examining the potential inside the sphere, the potential must have a term of order
r
2
to give a constant on the left side of the equation, so the solution is of the form

Substituting into Poisson's equation gives

Now to meet the boundary conditions at the surface of the sphere, r=R

The full solution for the potential inside the sphere from Poisson's equation is