ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL

Electrostatic force is a conservative force, i.e., the work done by the force in mov-
ing a test charge from one point to another is independent of the path connecting
the two points.
Let us calculate the work done by the electric eld due to a charge Q located at
the origin to take a unit test charge from the point A to the point B, along the path
shown.
The force on the unit test charge due
to the charge Q is, by denition, the
electric eld due to the charge Q,

E =
1
4
0
Q
r
2
r. The work done by
the eld on the test charge is
W =
_
b
a

E

dl
where

dl is along the path connect-
ing A and B.
A
B
a
b
O
We use the spherical polar coordinates to express the length element

dl

dl = dr r + rd

+ r sin

As the force is central, only the radial component of

dl contributes to the integral.
W =
Q
4
0
_
b
a
1
r
2
dr
=
Q
4
0
_
1
a

1
b
_
which depends only on the end points.
1
Line integral of the electric eld around any closed path is zero.
Consider the line integral
_
b
a

E

dl.
Since the integral is independent of
the path of integration, we have
_
b
a

dl path 1 =
_
b
a

dl path 2
B
II
I
A
Since
_
b
a

dl =
_
a
b

dl along any particular path,

_
b
a

E

dl alongpath I +
_
b
a

dl alongpath II = 0
L.H.S. is the line integral of the electric eld along the closed loop,
_

E

dl = 0
Since the work done by the electric eld is independent of path, we may write
_
B
A

dl = U(A, B)
where U(A, B) is a scalar function which depends only on the end points A and
B of integration. By property of integrals
_
B
A

dl =
_
C
A

E

dl +
_
B
C

E

dl
where C is any arbitrary point. Thus
U(A, B) = U(A, C) + U(C, A)
An intutive form for U(A, B) is
U(A, B) = V (A) V (B)
where V (x) is a scalar function which depends only on the position x. V (x) is
called the electrostatic potential of the position x. V (A) V (B) is the potential
difference between the positions A and B. The absolute value of the potential
2
at a position is meaningless unless we dene a reference position at which the
potential is zero. Since Coulomb force vanishes only at innite distances from a
source, it is convenient to take innity to be such a reference position. Thus, the
potential at a position x is
V (x) =
_
x

dl
It may be noted that such a reference point is an inappropriate choice for some
innite distribution of charges (e.g. a line charge) where the eld does not fall off
fast enough to make the integral above vanish.
Electric Field is Irrotational, i.e. Curl

E = 0
This follows from Stokes theorem.
_

E

dl =
_
S
(

E)

dS
where the surface integral is over any
surface bounded by the closed curve.
As the surface S is arbitrary (as long
as it is bounded by the same curve) ,
the integrand must vanish. Hence,

E = 0
S
S
C
Two open surface bounded
by the same closed curve C
1
2
3
Example 1 :
Potential due to a uniform electric eld

E.
If the electric eld is

E and is di-
rected along the x-direction,
V (x) =
_
x
x
0
Edx = E(x x
0
)
choosing the reference point x
0
to be
at the origin,
(x) = Ex
= Ex
0
E = constant
Example 2 :
Determine the potential due to a uniformly charged spherical shell carrying a
charge q.
Solution :
We know that the eld at a distance r from the centre of the shell is given by

E =
q
4
0
r
r
2
We choose the reference point at innity. As before, since the force is central,
only the radial integral is relevant. Thus
V (r) =
_
r

q
4
0
1
r
2
dr =
q
4
0
1
r
This is the potential at any point r > R. On the surface of the shell, the potential
is
V (R) =
q
4
0
1
R
This is also the eld at any point inside the shell since the eld inside the shell
being zero, no additional work needs to be done in carrying the charge from the
surface to any point inside.
Example 3 :
Find the potential due to a uniformly charged sphere.
Solution :
The potential calculation for points outside the sphere is same as that of the shell
4
as in both cases the eld is the same as if all the charge is concentrated at the
centre. Thus
V (r > R) =
_
r

q
4
0
1
r
2
dr =
q
4
0
1
r
However, the eld inside the sphere is not zero and hence one has to calculate the
potential difference between a point on the surface and a point inside (r < R)
Inside the sphere the electric eld is given by

E(r) =
q
4
0
r
R
3
r
Thus the potential difference is
V (r) V (R) =
q
4
0
1
R
3
_
r
R
rdr =
q
8
0
r
2
R
2
R
3
V (r) =
q
4
0
1
R

q
8
0
r
2
R
2
R
3
=
3q
8
0
1
R

q
8
0
r
2
R
3
Check that the expression for electric eld is obtained back on calculating the
negative gradient of potential.
Example 4 :
Obtain an expression for the potential at a distance x from a line charge distribu-
tion with a linear charge density .
Solution
The electric eld due to the charge distribution at a point P located at a distance x
is

E =

2
0
1
x
n
where n 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 differ-
ence between the point P and a reference point P
0
is obtained by calculating the
value of the integral
_

E

dl from the point P
0
to the point P. As the integral is
independent of path, we calculate it along the path P
0
P
1
P, as shown. The
contribution to the integral from the path P
0
P
1
is zero as along this path

dl is
5
perpendicular to

E. Along the path P
1
P, the directions of

dl and

E are parallel.
Hence, if the perpendicular distance
of P from the line charge is denoted
by x
V (P) V (P
0
) =

2
0
_
x
xo
dx
x
=

2
0
ln
_
x
x
o
_
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
P
P
1
n P
0
x
x
0
One can see that taking x
0
to be innite will make the integral diverge. In this
case, it it is convenient to take the zero of the potential to be at unit distance from
the line (x = 1). With this choice the potential at a distance x from the line is
V (x) =

2
0
ln x
Example 5 :
Find the potential difference be-
tween the top (P) and the centre of
the base (O) of a cone of radius =
height = a, carrying a charge density
on the slanted area.
a
P
O
a
z
z
2
z
Q
Solution :
Cone angle is 45

. Consider a ribbon of radius z at a depth z (since the cone angle

is 45

the two are equal) of height dz. Length element along the slope is

2dz.
Area of the strip = (2z)

2dz. Contribution to potential due to the ring shaped

strip is

4
0
2

2zdz
_
z
2
+ (a z)
2
6
Taking V (P) = 0,
V (O) =

2
0

2
_
a
0
zdz
_
z
2
+ (a z)
2
The integral can be looked up in a standard table of integrals. The result is
V (O) =

2
0
_
a ln(a + 2z +

a
2
2az + 2z
2
2

2
+
1
2

a
2
2az + 2z
2
_
a
0
=

2
0
a ln

2a + a

2a a
Exercise :
Find the potential at a height h above a uniformly charged innite plane having
a charge density . What is a good reference point for the zero of the potential ?
[Ans. z/2
0
, with (0) = 0]
Example 6 :
A spherical shell carries a charge density
=
k
r
2
for a < r < b and is hollow (no charge) inside (r < a). Find the potential
everywhere.
Soloution :
We can nd the electric eld by using Gausss law by taking a concentric sphere
of radius r as the Gaussian surface.
For r > b (i.e. outside the sphere)
E =
Q
4
0
r
2
=
1
4
0
_
b
a
d
=
1
4
0
1
r
2
_
b
a
k
r
2
4r
2
dr
=
k

0
(b a)
1
r
2
7
For a < r < b (i.e. within the sphere, charged region)
E =
Q
encl
4
0
r
2
=
1
4
0
1
r
2
_
r
a
k
r
2
4r
2
dr
=
k

0
(r a)
1
r
2
=
k

0
_
1
r

a
r
2
_
For r < a, i.e inside the hollow region, the eld is zero. Use these expressions
to evaluate the potential V (r) =
_
r

Edr, taking innity as the reference point.

For r > b
V =
k

0
(b a)
_
r

1
r
2
dr
=
k

0
b a
r
For a < r < b, we take the potential at r = b from the above by putting r = b and
then compute the contribution to the integral from r = b to r
V =
k

0
b a
b

_
r
b
Edr
=
k

0
b a
b

_
r
b
_
1
r

a
r
2
_
dr
=
k

0
_
1
a
r
_

0
ln
r
b
Finally for the region inside the hollow, the potential is given by the above expres-
sion by putting r = a
V =
k

0
ln
a
b
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 eld which we have so far been us-
ing as Newton/Coulomb is more commonly refereed as volt/meter.
The following points are to be noted regarding potential.
1. The advantage of potential lies in the fact that potential is a scalar while the
electric eld is a vector. Further as potential satises superposition principle
one can compute the total potential rst and then compute electric eld
easily (see below).
8
2. Potential Function satises Superposition Principle
Consider a collection of charges Q
1
, Q
2
. . .. The electric eld at a point
due to the distrbution of charges obeys superposition principle. If

E
i
is the
electric eld at a point P due to the charge Q
i
, the net electric eld at P is

E =

E
i
The potential V (P) at the point P (with respect to the reference point P
0
) is
V (P) =
_
P
Po

E d

l =
_
P
P
0

E
i
d

l =

i
_
P
P
0

E
i
d

l =

i
V
i
(P)
where V
i
(P) is the potential at P due to the charge Q
i
.
3. The reference point is arbitrary and is xed as per convenience of the prob-
lem. For many problems taking the reference point at innity helps. How-
ever, for several others (e.g. long charged wire, where we took the reference
point at unit distance from the wire) a different choice may prove more
sound.
4. It may be surprising at rst that a scalar function like potential packs as
much information as a vector function like the electric eld. However, it
may be noted that the electric eld is very special in that it is irrotational.
Thus the components of

E satises
E
z
y
=
E
y
z
E
x
z
=
E
z
x
E
y
x
=
E
x
y
5. Remember that the gradient of potential gives the electric eld.
9
Since the direction of the
gradient is along the direc-
tion in which the function
increases fastest, i.e. gradi-
ent points uphill. Bearing in
mind the fact that the direc-
tion of the electric eld is
negative gradient of poten-
tial, the direction of the elec-
tric eld is downhill. Re-
gions of positive charges are
like climbing a hill for a test
charge.
-1
-0.8
-0.6
-0.4
-0.2
0
0.2
0.4
0.6
0.8
1
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
-3
-2
-1
0
1
2
3
-1
-0.5
0
0.5
1
V(x,y)
x
y
V(x,y)
2.6.3 Determining Electric Field from a knowledge of Potential
The potential at the position x is given by the expression
V (x) =
_
x
x
0

dl (A)
where x
0
is a reference point such that V (x
0
) = 0.
In one dimension,
V (x) =
_
x
x
0
E(x)dx
Differentiate both sides with respect to the upper limit of integration, i.e. x
V
x
= E(x)
In three dimension, we use the fundamental theorem on gradients
V (x) V (x
0
) =
_
x
x
0
(

V ) d

l
10
which gives
V (x) =
_
x
x
0
(

V ) d

l
Comparing the above with eqn. (A) above,

E = V
In cartesian coordinates,

E =

i
V
x

j
V
y

k
V
z
Example 7 :
In a certain region of space, the potential function is given by the expression
V (x, y, z) = x
2
+ xy
where the potential is measured in volts and the distances in meters. Determine
the electric eld at the point (2, 1).
Solution :
Using

E = V =
V
x

V
y
= (2x y) x
Substituting for x and y

E = 5 2
Exercise : The potential in a certain region of space is given by the function xy
2
z
3
with respect to some reference point. Find the y-component of the electric eld at
(1, 3, 2). (Ans. 48 )
Exercise :
Find the potential at a distance h from the mid-point of a charged line of length
L carrying a total charge Q. Using this determine the electric eld at the point.
(Compare your result for the electric eld with the eld calculated in Example 2.)
_
_
Ans,
1
4
0
Q
L
ln
_
_
L
2
+
_
L
2
4
+ h
2

L
2
+
_
L
2
4
+ h
2
_
_
_
_
11
Example 8 :
The irrotational nature of the electric eld imposes some restrictions on the form
of electric eld. For instance, an expression

E = xy

i + 2yz

j + 3zx

k
is not a valid form for electric eld as a calculation of curl of the eld will show
that is has a non-zero value. On the other hand a form

E = y
2

i + (2xy + z
2
)

j + 2yz

k
is an acceptable expression for the electric eld.
Poissons and Laplaces equations :
The fact that curl of electric eld is zero implies that the eld can be written as a
gradient of a scalar function, viz. the potential. The choice of the negative sign
is simply for convenience of dealing with positive values of such potentials in a
large number of cases.
We have, from the divergence equation,

E =

0
Using the denition of potential, this gives
(V ) =

0
This gives

2
V =

0
The equation is known as Poissons equation. For a eld free region, where = 0,
the above equation gives Laplaces equation

2
V = 0
In the above, the operator
2
, known as the Laplacian, is

2
= =

2
x
2
+

2
y
2
+

2
z
2
Potential and Potential Energy
12
Potential and Potential energy are different, though they are related. Electric po-
tential at a point is the potential energy of a unit test charge kept at that point.
Potential is the property of the eld and is dened at every point, whether or not
a charge is located at the point. It is the potential energy that the unit test charge
would have if it happens to be located at that point.
The potential energy of a positive charge q increases if it is taken to a region of
higher potential. If electric force is the only force acting on the particle, its kinetic
energy would decrease by a similar amount.
Let the charge have a velocity v
1
at the position P
1
where the electrostatic potential
is
1
. If it moves to a position P
2
, where the potential is
2
, then, the velocity v
2
of the particle at this point is given by the energy conservation
1
2
mv
2
1
+ q
1
=
1
2
mv
2
2
+ q
2
The work done on the particle in moving from a potential
1
to the potential
2
is
given by the work-energy theorem
Work Done = Change in K.E.
=
1
2
m(v
2
2
v
2
1
)
= q(V (1) V (2))
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 1
Joule.
2.6.6 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,
1eV = | charge of an electron | 1volt
= 1.6 10
19
Coulomb 1 volt
= 1.6 10
19
Joule
Example 9 :
An - particle with a kinetic energy of 1 MeV is projected towards a stationary
13
nucleus with a charge 75 | e |. Neglecting the motion of the nucleus, determine
the distance of closest approach of the - particle.
Solution :
d
Initial energy of -particle = 1 Mev = 10
6
(1.6 10
19
) = 1.6 10
12
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 innity) at a distance d is
1
4
0
80 2 (1.6 10
19
)
2
d
=
3.456 10
26
d
Equating this to the initial kinetic energy, d = 2.16 10
14
m.
Potential and Field due to an Electric Dipole
An electric dipole consists of two equal and opposite charges +q and q sepa-
rated by a small distance a.
The Electric Dipole Moment p is dened as a vector of magnitude qa with a direc-
tion from the negative charge to the positive charge. In many molecules, though
the net charge is zero, the nature of chemical bonds is such that the positive and
negative charges do not cancel at every point. There is a small separation between
the positive charge centres and negative charge centres. Such molecules are said
to be polar molecules as they have a non-zero dipole moment. The gure below
shows an asymmetric molecule like water which has a dipole moment 6.210
30
C-m.
14
q
+q
a p
Oxygen
Hydrogen
Hydrogen
p
The charge centres of two hydrogen make
105 degrees angle at the Oxygen.
In the polar r coordinates shown in the gure
p = p cos r p sin

where r and

are unit vectors in the radial and tangential directions, taken respec-
tively, in the direction of increasing r and increasing .
The electric potential at a point P with a position vector r is
(r) =
1
4
0
_
q
r
1

q
r
2
_
=
q
4
0
r
2
r
1
r
1
r
2

a
a cos
p
yaxis
zaxis
xaxis
r
r
1
2
r
P
If the distance a is small compared to r (i.e., if the point P is far away from the
dipole), we may use
r
2
r
1
a cos r
1
r
2
r
2
15
where is the angle between r and the dipole moment vector p. This gives
(r)
qa cos
4
0
r
2
=
p cos
4
0
r
2
Potential Energy of a System of Charges
Assume all charges to be initially at innity. We assemble the charges by bringing
the charges one by one and x them in their positions.
There is no energy cost in bringing the rst charge q
1
and putting it at P
1
, as there
is no force eld. Thus W
1
= 0.
r
4
r
r
12
34
r
14
r24
13
r
1
r
r
2
r
3
23
r
q
q
1
q
2
3
P
P
1
2
q
4
P
4
P
3
We now bring the second charge and take it to point P
2
. Since this charge moves
in the potential eld of the rst charge, the work done in bringing this charge is
W
2
=
1
4
0
q
2
q
1
r
12
= q
2
V
1
(P
2
)
where V
1
(P
2
) is the potential at P
2
due to the charge at P
1
. The third charge q
3
is
to be brought to P
3
under the force exerted by bth q
1
and q
2
and is
W
3
=
1
4
0
_
q
1
q
3
r
13
+
q
2
q
3
r
23
_
= q
3
(V
1
(P
3
) + V
2
(P
3
))
16
and so on.
The work done in assembling N charges q
1
, q
2
, . . . , q
N
, located respectively at
r
1
, r
2
, . . . , r
N
is
W = W
1
+ W
2
+ . . . + W
N
=
1
4
0

i<j
N

j=2
q
i
q
j
r
ij
=
1
8
0
N

i=1
N

j=1
q
i
q
j
r
ij
(i = j)
The extra factor of
1
2
in the last expression is to ensure that each pair (i, j) is
counted only once. The sum excludes the terms i = j. Since the potential at the
i- th position due to all other charges is
V (r
i
) =
1
4
0

j=i
q
i
r
ij
we get
W =
1
2
N

i=1
q
i
V (r
i
)
Energy of a continuous charge distribution
If (r) is the density of charge distribution at r, we can generalize the above result
W =
1
8
0
_ _
(r)(

)
| r r

|
dd

=
1
2
_
(r)V (r)d
(In case of a line charge or a surface charge distribution, the integration is over the
appropriate dimension).
Since the integral is over the charge distribution, it may be extended over all space
by dening the charge density to be zero outside the distribution, so that the con-
tribution to the integral comes only from the region of space where the charge
17
density is non-zero. Writing
W =
1
2
_
allspace
(r)V (r)d (1)
From the differential form of Gausss law, we have

E =

0
With this
W =

0
2
_
all space
(

E)V (r)d
On using the vector identity

(V

E) = V

E +

E V
we get, using

E = V ,
W =

0
2
_
all space

(V

E)d +

0
2
_
all space
| E |
2
d
The rst integral can be converted to a surface integral by using divergence theo-
rem. We get
W =

0
2
_
S
V

E d

S +

0
2
_
vol.
E
2
d (2)
We can always expand the bound-
ing surface from S
1
to, say S
2
be-
cause between the region S
1
to S
2
,
there are no charges and the contri-
bution to the energy integral W =
(1/2)
_
(r)V (r)d, given by Eqn.
(1) is zero from this region. Note,
however, the electric eld in this re-
gion is not zero. Thus if we look at
the form given by Eqn. (2), the vol-
ume term increases as S
2
becomes
larger and larger. Thus the sur-
face term of this equation must keep
on decreasing as S
2
becomes larger.
Typically, E 1/r
2
, and V 1/r.
The surface integrand goes as 1/r
3
and since dS r
2
, the surface term
in Eqn. (2) decreases as 1/r.
S
S
1
2
18
We may, therefore, take the bounding surface to innite distances, where the elec-
tric eld is zero. As a result the rst integral vanishes and we have
W =

0
2
_
all space
| E |
2
d (3)
So where is the energy stored ? We say that the energy is stored in the electric
eld associated with the charge distribution. There is one apparent contradiction.
To see this consider a spherical shell with a uniform surface charge distribution.
If the charge density is taken uniform, the charge in the sphere is Q = 4r
2
.
Let us sqeeze the sphere to reduce the volume. Clearly, we need to do work
because we are working against the electrostatic forces in the sphere. We need to
know the amount of pressure the shell is exerting on itself. Let us make a guess
from dimensional argument. The pressure is force per unit area can be written as
product (charge/area) (force/charge), i,e. equal to the product of charge density
and the electric eld. Thus a good guess for pressure is
P =
1
4
0
Q
R
2
=

R
2
However, the force applied on a charge element of the surface is produced by all
charges, including the charges on which the force is applied. This is obviously not
correct.
To correct this, imagine removing a
circular disk from the shell. The
pressure on the shell is due to the
sphere minus the disk. This can be
done by superposition principle. The
eld is the eld of the shell minus the
eld due to the disk which is equal to
/2
0
.
E = E
shell
E
disk
=

2
0
=

2
0
19
The eld pointing outwards. Now that we have an expression for pressure, we can
calculate the work done when we squeeze the shell. If we squeeze it so that the
radius decreases by dr and the volume by d,
dW = Fdr = 4r
2
Pdr =

2
0
d
The total work done is
W =
_
sigma
2
0
d
Recalling that the electric eld due to the shell is /
0
, the expression is
W =
1
2
0
_
E
2
d
as determined earlier. The integrand E
2
/2
0
is known as the energy density of the
eld. Note that as the expression depends on E
2
, superposition principle is not
valid for the energy.
Example 10
In this example we calculate the energy of a charged sphere of radius R with a
uniform charge density with a total charge Q, using three different methods.
Method 1 :
We will rst calculate by Eqn. (1) according to which W =
1
2
_
V (r)d. Earlier
we had shown that the expression for the potential for a charged sphere is given
by Since outside the sphere the charge density is zero, the integration is only over
the sphere. We had seen that the potential inside the charged sphere is given by
V (r) =
3q
8
0
R

qr
2
8
0
R
3
Thus, using = 3q/4R
3
_
V (r)d =
9q
2
32
2

0
R
2
_
d
3q
2
32
2

0
R
6
_
r
2
d
=
9q
2
32
2

0
R
2
4
3R
3

3q
2
32
2

0
R
6
4
R
5
5
=
3q
2
8
0
R

3q
2
40
0
R
=
3q
2
10
0
R
20
Thus the energy
W = (1/2)
_
V (r)d =
3
20
q
2

0
R
Method 2 :
In the second method we will calculate it using equation (2), which is a sum of a
surface integral and a volume integral
W =

0
2
_
S
V

E d

S +

0
2
_
vol
E
2
d
For the surface integral we only need the value of the potential and eld on the
surface of the sphere. These are
V (R) =
q
4
0
R
and

E =
q
4
0
R
2
r
. Thus
W
s
=

0
2
q
2
16
2

2
0
R
3
4R
2
=
q
2
8
0
R
The volume integral is over the volume enclosed by the surface above and hence
is from 0 to R, inside which the eld is (1/4
0
R
)
r. Thus
W
v
=

0
2
q
2
16
2

2
0
R
6
_
R
0
r
2
4r
2
dr
=
q
2
40
0
R
The sum of the two terms, as before is (3q
2
/20
0
R).
Method 3 :
In the third method we extend the surface to innity so that the surface term is
zero. This is easily seen by taking the radius of the sphere to be r
0
so that the
surface integral as calculated in method 2 becomes q
2
/8
0
r
0
which vanishes as
r
0
. We are just left with the integration over all space of square of electric
eld. This consists of two separate integrations, as the eld expression for inside
the sphere is proportional to r while outside it it is inversely proportional to r
2
.
Thus
W =

0
2
q
2
16
2

2
0
R
6
_
R
0
r
2
4r
2
dr +

0
2
q
2
16
2

2
0
_

R
1
r
4
4r
2
dr
=
q
2
40
0
R
+
q
2
8
0
R
=
3q
2
20
0
R
21