ELECTROMAGNETIC

FIELDS & WAVES

EEEB 253
CHAPTER 4

Semester I 2013/14
27th May – 6th Sept. 2013
College of Engineering
 Chapter 4: Electrostatic fields 2

• Static electric field – time invariant; E field produced by static charge distribution
• E field application – Touch pad, capacitive keyboard, LCD
• Industry – E field used for paint spraying, electrodeposition, measure moisture
content of crops, speed baking of bread and smoking of meat
• Coulomb’s law & Gauss’s law – both for calculating electric field
1. Coulomb’s law
2. Electric fields
3. Electric flux density
4. Gauss’s law
5. Electric potential
6. Electric energy
Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.1: Coulomb’s law 3

• Coulomb’s law:. deals with the force exerted by a point charge on

another point charge
• The force F between two point charges Q1 and Q2 is:.

Along the line joining them

Directly proportional to the product Q1Q2 of the charges

Inversely proportional to the square of the distance R between them
• With a proportionality constant, it can be expressed as
• Coulomb’s constant, k, expressed in terms of the permittivity of free
space (in Farad per meter)
• F12 – force exerted on Q2 due to Q1, if Q1 and Q2 are located at position
vectors r1 and r2 respectively.

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.1: Coulomb’s law 4

• Using the formula for unit vector,  or

• A few points to note:.

Opposing force with same magnitude

Like charges repel, opposite charges attract

Distance R is much larger than the size of the charges i.e. point charges

All the charges must be in static i.e. not moving

Signs of the charges must be taken into account
• For cases with more than two charges,
• Electric field intensity (electric field strength), E – force per unit
charge when placed in the electric field
• E is in the direction of F in N/C or V/m
• For E due to many charges
Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.1: Coulomb’s law 5

• Example 4.1

• P.E. 4.1

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4.1: Coulomb’s law 6

• P.E. 4.3

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4.2: Electric fields due to continuous
charge distribution 7

• More realistic cases – charges distributed along a line, surface or

volume with line , surface and volume charge densities
• The charge element dQ and the total charge Q

• The electric field intensity = sum of the field contributed by the point
charges making up the charge distribution

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.2: Electric fields due to continuous
charge distribution 8

• Line charge – uniform charge density

• Charge element
• Total charge
• Denote field point and source point

• 
• Defining the angles,

• Special case of infinite line charge 

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.2: Electric fields due to continuous
charge distribution 9

• Surface charge – uniform surface charge

• E in the direction of z if surface on xy.plane
•  normal to surface,
• Note:. it is independent on the distance of
point P to the sheet of charge
• In a parallel plate capacitor,
• Volume charge . for point P
• for E at point
• Try example 4.4 (exclude part a)

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.2: Electric fields due to continuous
charge distribution 10

• Example 4.5

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4.2: Electric fields due to continuous
charge distribution 11

• Example 4.6

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4.2: Electric fields due to continuous
charge distribution 12

• P.E. 4.6

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4.3: Electric flux density 13

• Electric field intensity is dependent on the medium (free space)

• Introduce a new vector field D that is independent on medium
• Electric flux , measured in SI unit – Coulomb
• Vector field D – called the electric flux density; SI unit – coulomb/m2
• Can obtain D from E. Eg. For infinite sheet of charge
• For a volume charge distribution,
• Example 4.7

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4.3: Electric flux density 14

• P.E. 4.7

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4.4: Gauss’s law 15

• Gauss’s law states that the total electric flux through any closed
surface is equal to the total charge enclosed by the surface. i.e.
• 
• Using the divergence theorem, , therefore
• 1st of the 4 Maxwell’s equations – the volume charge density is equal to
the divergence of the electric flux density
• Gauss’s Law (GL) is an alternative statement of Coulomb’s Law
(CL);proper application of divergence theorem to CL results in GL
• GL provides an easy way to determine E and D for symmetrical charge
distribution

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.4: Gauss’s law 16

• Total net flux leaving surface v1 = 5 nC

• Charges 20 nC and 15 nC do not affect
because net = 0; in = out
• For surface v2, net flux = 0
• Procedures to apply Gauss’s law to for calculation
• Determine whether symmetric charge distribution exists
• A closed surface (called the Gaussian surface) is chosen such that D is normal or
tangential to the surface
• For a point charge Q, choose a spherical surface
• D is everywhere normal to the surface

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.4: Gauss’s law 17

• For an infinite line charge, choose a cylindrical surf.

to satisfy the symmetry condition
• GL:.
• For top and bottom surface  ZERO;
• For an infinite sheet of charge, choose a rectangular
box that is cut symmetrically by the sheet
• GL:.
• If the top and bottom have an area A,

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.4: Gauss’s law 18

• For a uniformly charged sphere, spherical surf.

• For r ≤ a,
•
• GL:-
• For r => a,

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.4: Gauss’s law 19

• Try eg.4.8; P.E. 4.8

• Try eg. 4.9; P.E. 4.9

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.5: Electric potential 20

• Recap:. To calculate E, can use CL for all cases; GL only suits highly
symmetric charge distribution
• Another way – use electric scalar potential V;
easier to handle scalar than vector quantity
• Case – Moving a point charge Q from point A to B in an electric field E
. From CL, , work done
• .ve sign: indicates work done by external agent
• Potential energy per unit charge  potential difference between point
A and B ; A is the initial point, B is the final point
• VAB –ve:. loss in PE when moving Q from A to B, work done by field
• VAB +ve:. gain in PE when moving Q from A to B, external agent
performs the work
Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.5: Electric potential 21

• VAB is independent of the path taken

• VAB is measured in Joules/C, commonly called as volt (V)
• Equations:.
• Always determine electric potential relative to another potential
• Calculation for point charge – relative to infinity
• Using superposition principle
• For continuous charge distribution  intergration

• Note:. if electric field is known, use

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.5: Electric potential 22

• Example 4.10

• P.E. 4.10

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4.5: Electric potential 23

• Try xample 4.11

• P.E. 4.11

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4.6: Electric energy 24

• To calculate the energy present in an assembly of charges, need to first

determine the amount of work necessary to assemble them
• Wish to move Q1,2,3 to the shaded region
• Q1 – no work required, E field = 0
• Putting the charges in reverse order
• Hence
• ; Generally,
• For continuous charge distribution
• Using divergence for volume charge distribution
• The electrostatic energy energy
Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power
4.6: Electric energy 25

• P.E. 4.14

• Try to calculate the total work done using the formula

Compare the answers!
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4.6: Electric energy
26

• Example 4.15

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Chapter 4 Conclusion 27

• Using CL and GL to solve for the electric field; GL is suitable for

highly symmetric charge distribution
• Electric field intensity in free space and different medium
• Electric potential and electric energy for point charges and
continuous charge distribution
• Tutorial questions:. 4.1, 4.3, 4.5(a, b), 4.10, 4.12, 4.22, 4.24, 4.26, 4.28,
4.30, 4.37, 4.40

Ker Pin Jern © Universiti Tenaga Nasional, College of Engineering, Dept. of Electrical Power