Lecture 2-1

Today

• Review

• Electric Field
• Electric Dipole
Lecture 2-2
Coulomb’s Law
• Charges with the same sign repel each other, and charges
with opposite signs attract each other.
• The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two
particles is proportional to the amount of electric charge
that each possesses and is inversely proportional to the
distance between the two squared.
Assuming q1, q2
q1q2
F1,2 = k 2 rˆ1,2 by 1 → r1,2 of the same sign

on 2
F2,1 q1 q2 F1,2
r1,2
r1,2
• Coulomb constant:
1
k=  8.99 109 N m 2 / C 2
4 0
where 0  8.85 10−12 C 2 N −1m −2
is called the permittivity constant.
Lecture 2-3
Principle of Superposition

F1 = F21 + F31 + F41 +

q1 F13 q3

• Add by components or
• Magnitude and direction
F12 separately by using
trigonometry
q2 F1 • Symmetry can help!
Lecture 2-4
Principle of Superposition Example
• When several point charges are put together, the total force on
any one charge is the vector sum of the each of the separate
forces acting on that charge.
F = F21y + F31y = 2F21y
• Exercise:
Q1Q2
y F = 2  k 2 cos 30 0
F r
N  m 2
−6
F31 F21 2  9  10 9
2
 (10 C) 2
 0.866
F= C
R=1m Q1 (1m )2

F = 15.59  10 −3 N

600 Q1=Q2=Q3=1C
Q2 Q3
Determine force on Q1 x
Lecture 2-7
Electric Field
The net Coulomb force on a given charge q is proportional to
the strength of that charge. qQ qQ '
Fq = k 2
rˆQ ,q + k 2
rˆQ ',q + ...
r r
Define electric field, which is independent of the test charge,
q, and depends only on its position in space:
F N V 
E=  =  (V stands for volts)
q  C m
Electric Field due to a
Point Charge Q

F 1 Q
E= = rˆ
q 4 0 r 2

E points away from positive charges

and toward negative charges.
Lecture 2-8
Electric Field
With this concept, we can “map” the electric field anywhere in
space produced by any arbitrary set of charges: a Vector field

77 73 72
75
82 71
84 77
80 68 64
83 57 56 55 73
66 88
75 80
88
83 90
92 91
Lecture 2-9
Electric Field due to Multiple Source Charges

The force on a test charge is then given by

   
F = F1 + F2 + F3 + 
so the electric field is, by definition, given by
   
 F F1 F2 F3
E = = + + +
q0 q0 q0 q0
  
= E1 + E2 + E3 + 
Principle of Superposition applies to E, too !
Knowing E at a location immediately yields the electric
force on any charge placed there, regardless of how this
field E was produced.
Lecture 2-10
Example E1 = E1 sin  i − E1 cos j
−6
Q1 9 10  10 3 N 
E1 = k 2 = 9  10  = 3.6  10  
( 3 + 42 ) 25 C

E2 3 4
sin  = = 0.6, cos = = 0.8
3 +4
2 2
3 +4
2 2

P
E1
4m 

Q2=10C 3m Q1=−10C

E 2 = E2 j
−6
Q2 10  10 N
E2 = k 2 = 9  109   5.6  103  
4 16 C
Lecture 2-11

E2
Etotal E total = E1 + E 2


(E ) = (E ) + (E )
total
x
1
x
2
x
P
E1
(E ) = (E ) + (E )
total
y
1
y
2
y

4m 

Q2=10C 3m Q1=−10C
2 2
Etotal =  E total  +  E total 
x y

  E total  
 y
 = tan −1  
  E total  
 x 
Lecture 2-12
Electric Field Lines

• A visualization tool to illustrate the geometry of

an electric field.
• Electric field lines originate from positive charges
and terminates at negative charges. (or at infinity)
• The direction of the electric field at any location is
tangential to the field line there.
• The magnitude of the electric field at any location
is proportional to the density of the lines there.
• The charge is not affected by its own electric field.
Lecture 2-13

Dynamics of a Charge in Electric Field

For -Q<0 in uniform E downward:

F = ma = ( −Q ) E
QE -Q

a = ay j = j (E = −E j)
m
1 2
 y (t ) = a y t , x (t ) = v x t
2
2
1  x  QEx 2 • Oscilloscope
y = ay   =
2  vx  2mv x2
• Ink-Jet Printing
2
 QEt 
v (t ) = v x2 + v y (t ) 2 = v x2 +  
 m  • Oil drop experiment
vy
tan  =
vx
Lecture 2-14
Electric field lines of two charges of equal magnitude

dipole

Far from the charges, electric ➢ Field lines do NOT cross

field lines resemble those of a ➢ They do NOT come out of
point charge. nowhere or vanish into a point.
Lecture 2-15 Electric field lines of two charges

Far from charges, the

field lines are as if
they are due to a point
charge of +2q-q=+q

# lines proportional to the

magnitude of charge
Lecture 2-16
Dipole in uniform electric fields

• No net force. The electrostatic

forces on the constituent point
charges are of the same
magnitude but along opposite
directions. So, there is no net
force on the dipole and thus its
center of mass should not
accelerate.
p = q d Dipole moment
• Net torque! There is clearly a net
torque acting on the dipole with
Clockwise about respect to its center of mass, since
the center of mass the forces are not aligned.
Lecture 2-17
Torque on the Dipole

The magnitude of the torque:

 = Fx sin  + F (d − x) sin  q F
= Fd sin  = qEd sin  x
= pE sin  
CM
−q
The torque points into the screen. F

  
 = p E
Lecture 2-18
Potential Energy of the Dipole

The torque tends to align the dipole in the direction of the field.
Energetically speaking, the field makes the dipole go from a
higher-energy configuration (unaligned) to a lower-energy
configuration (aligned).
Taking such potential energy to be zero when the angle  is
90 degrees, the potential energy at any  is equal to the work
done by you against the torque due to the field (or the negative
of the work that is done by the field).
 
U = −W =   d =  pE sin d = − pE cos
90 90

 
U = −pE
Lecture 2-19
Electric Dipoles in Nature

• Typical dipole consists of positive and

negative charges slightly displaced.
• General definition of dipole moments
exists:

• Water molecule can be thought of

as consisting of 2 standard dipoles at
an angle to each other.
p ≈ 6 x 10-30 C m ≈ 0.04 e nm

❑ Net neutral molecules can have

electrical dipole moments
❑ Permanent dipole moment (polar)
vs. induced dipole moment
Lecture 2-20
Electric Field due to an Electric Dipole

At point P on z-axis:
E = E ( + ) − E( − )
q q
=k − k
( z − d / 2) 2 ( z + d / 2) 2

q d −2 d −2 
=k  (1 − ) − (1 + ) 
z2 2z 2z 
q  d d 
= k 2 (1 + + ...) − (1 − + ...) 
z  z z 
2
2kq d d  2k
= 2 [1 + O (  )] = 3 p + ...
z z z z
Where p  qd is the
(magnitude of) dipole moment.
Lecture 2-21

Dipole Field Anisotropy z

 y
At point P on y-axis:

E z = E( + ) + E( − )
q
= −2 k 2 sin 
y + ( d / 2) 2
Dipole Field at General Point P:
q d
= −2 k 2
[ y + ( d / 2) 2 ]3/ 2 2 3( p n)n − p
E= 3
+ ...
qd d 2 −3/ 2 r
= − k 3 (1 + 2 )
y 4y
where n is the unit vector
qd  3d 2 
= − k 3 (1 − 2 + ...)  from the center of dipole to
y  8y  the observation point P.
k
= − 3 p + ...
y