Some Useful Equations

Physical Constants

𝒆 = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟎 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟗 𝐂
𝟏 𝐍 ∙ 𝐦𝟐 𝑵𝑨 = 𝟔. 𝟎𝟐𝟐 × 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟑 𝐦𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐜𝐮𝐥𝐞𝐬/𝐦𝐨𝐥
𝒌= = 𝟖. 𝟗𝟗 × 𝟏𝟎𝟗 𝐦
𝟒𝝅𝝐𝟎 𝐂𝟐 |𝒈
⃗⃗ | = 𝟗. 𝟖𝟎 𝟐
𝐂 𝟐 𝐬
𝝐𝟎 = 𝟖. 𝟖𝟓 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟏𝟐 𝐓∙𝐦
𝐍 ∙ 𝐦𝟐 𝝁𝟎 = 𝟒𝝅 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟕
−𝟑𝟏 𝐂
𝒎𝒆 = 𝟗. 𝟏𝟏 × 𝟏𝟎 𝐤𝐠 𝒉 = 𝟔. 𝟔𝟐𝟔 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟑𝟒 𝐉 ∙ 𝐬
𝒎𝒑 = 𝟏. 𝟔𝟕 × 𝟏𝟎−𝟐𝟕 𝐤𝐠 𝐦
𝐕∙𝐬 𝐍 𝐤𝐠 𝒄 = 𝟐. 𝟗𝟗𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎𝟖
𝟏 𝐓 = 𝟏 𝐦𝟐 = 𝟏 𝐀∙𝐦 = 𝟏 𝐂∙𝐬 𝐬
Formulae
𝒌𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐 𝟏 𝟐
⃗𝑭(𝒓) = 𝒓̂ 𝒙(𝒕) = 𝒙𝟎 + 𝒗𝟎 𝒕 + 𝒂𝒕
𝒓𝟐 𝟐
⃗𝑭 = 𝒒𝟎 𝑬
⃗ 𝒗(𝒕) = 𝒗𝟎 + 𝒂𝒕
𝒌𝒒 𝒗𝟐 (𝒕) = 𝒗𝟐𝟎 + 𝟐𝒂(𝒙(𝒕) − 𝒙𝟎 )
⃗ (𝒓) =
𝑬 𝒓̂ (point charge)
𝒓𝟐 𝟏
𝒙(𝒕) = 𝒙𝟎 + (𝒗(𝒕) + 𝒗𝟎 )𝒕
𝒌 𝒅𝒒 𝟐
⃗𝑬(𝒓) = ∫ 𝒓̂ (continuous charge)
𝒓𝟐 ⃗𝑭𝐧𝐞𝐭 = 𝒎𝒂
⃗ ⃗ × ⃗𝑭
⃗ =𝒓
𝝉
𝒌𝒒
𝑽(𝒓) = (point charge) ∆𝑲 = −∆𝑼 = −𝒒 ∆𝑽
𝒓
𝟏 ∆𝑾
𝒌 𝒅𝒒 𝑲 = 𝒎𝒗𝟐 𝑷𝒂𝒗 =
𝟐 ∆𝒕
𝑽(𝒓) = ∫ (continuous charge)
𝒓
⃗⃗⃗⃗
−∆𝑼 = 𝑾 = ∫ ⃗𝑭 ∙ 𝒅𝒍
𝒌𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐
𝑼(𝒓) = (point charge)
𝒓 𝟏 𝟏
𝑾𝑨→𝑩 = 𝒌𝒒𝟏 𝒒𝟐 ( − )
Charge densities of: 𝒓𝑨 𝒓𝑩
𝑄 C 𝑄 𝐶 𝑄 𝐶 ⃗⃗ ∙ 𝑩𝒏
𝜱 =𝑨 ̂ = 𝑨 𝑩 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝜽
𝑙𝑖𝑛𝑒𝑎𝑟 𝜆 = [ ], 𝑠𝑢𝑟𝑓𝑎𝑐𝑒 𝜎 = [ 2 ] , 𝑣𝑜𝑙𝑢𝑚𝑒 𝜌 = [ ]
𝐿 m 𝐴 𝑚 𝑉 𝑚3

Electric field at point perpendicular distance 𝑟 from midpoint of

line of charge with charge density 𝜆 and length 2𝑎:
𝝀𝒂 𝟏
⃗𝑬(𝒓) = 𝒓̂
𝟐𝝅𝝐𝒓 √𝒓𝟐 + 𝒂𝟐
Electric field at a distance 𝑥 along the x-axis of a ring of charge in
the 𝑦𝑧-plane. The ring has a linear charge density 𝜆 and radius a:
𝝀𝒂 𝒙
⃗ (𝒙) =
𝑬
𝟐𝝐 𝟐 𝟑 𝒊̂
𝟐
(𝒙 + 𝒂 )𝟐
Electric field at a distance ℎ along the z-axis of a disk of charge in
the 𝑥𝑦-plane. The disk has a surface charge density 𝝈 and radius a:

⃗𝑬 = 𝒌𝝈𝟐𝝅𝒉 [𝟏 − 𝟏
̂
]𝒌
𝒉 √𝒂𝟐 +𝒉𝟐

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Electric Field in parallel plate that has a potential difference V
And a distance d
𝑽 𝝈 𝑸 𝒂
E=𝒅 or 𝑬= or 𝑬= ⃗ . ⃗⃗⃗⃗
∆𝑽 = 𝑽𝒃 − 𝑽𝒂 = − ∫𝒃 ⃗𝑬 𝒅𝒍
𝜺 𝜺𝑨

Torque on Dipole
𝜏⃗⃗ = ⃗⃗⃗𝑝 × ⃗⃗⃗
𝐸 or 𝜏 = 𝑠𝑞𝐸 sin (Φ) where ⃗⃗⃗𝑝 = 𝑞 ⃗⃗𝑠
1 2𝑝 1 𝑝
𝐸⃗ (𝑥, 0) ≈ |𝑥|3
𝐸⃗ (𝑦, 0) ≈ −
4𝜋𝜀0 4𝜋𝜀0 |𝑦|3

Capacitor
ⅆ𝑄 𝐼 𝑛𝑞𝑣ⅆ 𝐴
𝐼= A 𝐽= =
ⅆ𝑡
𝐴 𝐴
1 1 1
= 𝐶 + 𝐶 + ⋯ series 1
𝐶𝑒𝑞 1 1 𝐽 = 𝜌 𝐸⃗ A/𝑚2
𝐶𝑒𝑞 = 𝐶1 + 𝐶1 + ⋯ parallel 𝑙
𝑅=𝜌 𝜌 is the resistivity Ω. 𝑚
𝐴
𝑅𝑒𝑞 = 𝑅1 + 𝑅2 + ⋯ series
1 1 1
= + +⋯ parallel
𝑅𝑒𝑞 𝑅1 𝑅2
𝑄 2𝜋𝜀𝐿
The capacitance of cylindrical capacitor is: 𝐶 = = 𝑏 where b is the outer radius and a is the inner
𝑉 ln
𝑎
𝑄 4𝜋𝜀
The capacitance of spherical capacitor is: 𝐶 = =1 1 where b is the outer radius and a is the inner
𝑉 −
𝑎 𝑏
𝑄 𝜀𝐴 𝑄ⅆ
The capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor is: 𝐶 = = , 𝜀 = 𝐾𝜀𝑜 , ∆𝑉 =
𝑉 ⅆ 𝜀𝑆
1 1 𝑄2
Potential Energy stored in the capacitor is: 𝑈 = 2 𝐶𝑉 2 Joules or 𝑈 = Joules
2 𝐶
∆𝑽𝟐
The power (W) equations 𝑃 = (∆𝑉)𝐼 , 𝑃 = 𝐼 2 𝑅, 𝑷 =
𝑹
RC circuits

Charging capacitor
𝑡 𝑡 𝑡
𝑞(𝑡) = 𝑞max (1 − 𝑒 −𝜏 ), 𝑖(𝑡) = 𝑖0 𝑒 −𝜏 , 𝑣(𝑡) = 𝑣𝑚𝑎𝑥 (1 − 𝑒 −𝜏 )
Discharging capacitor
𝑞 = 𝑞𝑜 𝑒 −𝑡/𝜏
𝜏 = 𝑅𝐶 (𝑈𝑁𝐼𝑇: 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠)

Magnetism

⃗ = 𝒒|𝒗
Lorentz Force Law for a charge: 𝐹𝐵 = 𝑞𝑣 × 𝐵 ⃗⃗ | 𝑠𝑖𝑛 𝜽 𝒏
⃗ ||𝑩 ̂ unit is N
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A force on a wire with a current due to a uniform magnetic field 𝐹𝐵 = 𝐼 ⃗𝑙 × 𝐵
⃗ unit is N, For a non-uniform
magnetic field: ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝒅𝑭 = 𝑰 ⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝒅𝒍 × ⃗𝑩
⃗
Cyclotron
𝑚𝑣 𝑞𝐵
𝑟𝑐𝑦𝑐 = , 𝑓𝑐𝑦𝑐 =
 𝑞𝐵   2𝜋𝑚   
 F = F + F =qE +q vB
e B

⃗|
|𝑬
Velocity selector: 𝒗 = ⃗⃗
|𝑩|

m r BB
= cyc 2 1 where B1 and E1 from the velocity selector and B2 for the Cyclotron
q E 1

Energy conservation: 0 = Kf + Uf = ½mv^2 – eΔV

Magnetic Dipole Moment 𝜇 = 𝑁𝐼𝐴 𝑛 ̂ [Units: 𝒎𝟐 𝑨]
Torque 𝝉
⃗ =𝝁⃗ ×𝑩⃗⃗ [Units: N.m]

⃗⃗⃗⃗
⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ = 𝝁𝟎𝑰 𝒅𝒍×𝒓̂
Biot-Savart’s Law : 𝒅𝑩 𝟐𝟒𝝅 𝒓
𝝁𝟎 𝑰 𝒂
Magnetic field due to a finite wire: ⃗𝑩
⃗ = ̂
𝒏
𝟐𝝅𝒙 √𝒂𝟐 +𝒙𝟐
𝝁𝟎 𝑰𝟏
⃗⃗ 𝟏 =
Magnetic field due to infinite wire: 𝑩 ̂ where 𝒏
𝒏 ̂ is tangential on the circle that is r is its radius
𝟐𝝅𝒓
𝜇0 𝐼 𝑎2
Along the axis of the loop, a distance z from the centre of the loop: 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑝 =
2 (𝑎2 +𝑧 2 )3/2
𝜇0 𝐼
At the middle of the loop: 𝐵𝑙𝑜𝑜𝑝 =
2𝑎
⃗ = 𝝁𝟎 𝑰𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐥𝐨𝐬𝐞𝐝
⃗⃗ ∙ 𝒅𝓵
Ampere’s law: ∮ 𝑩

Faraday’s and Lenz’s laws

⃗⃗ ⃗⃗ ⃗⃗ ⃗⃗
𝜺 = −𝑵
𝒅𝜱𝑩
= −𝑵
ⅆ
∫ ⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗ = −𝑵 𝒅(𝑩∙𝑨) = −𝑵 (𝒅𝑨 ∙ ⃗𝑩
𝐵 . 𝑑𝐴 ⃗ ∙ 𝒅𝑩)
⃗ + ⃗𝑨
𝒅𝒕 ⅆ𝑡 𝐴 𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕
ⅆ ⅆ ⅆ𝑥
𝜺=− (𝛷𝐵 ) = − (𝐴𝐵) = −𝐿 𝐵 = −𝐿𝑣𝐵
ⅆ𝑡 ⅆ𝑡 ⅆ𝑡
Magnetic flux in a solenoid
𝜱𝑩 𝒅𝒊 𝒅𝒊 𝒅𝒊 𝜱𝑩
𝜱𝑩 = 𝑩𝑨 = 𝝁𝟎 𝒏𝒊𝑨 |𝜺| = =𝑳 ∆𝑽𝑳 = −𝑳 𝑳=
𝒊 𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕 𝒅𝒕 𝒊
RL Circuits
𝜺
𝜏 = 𝐿⁄𝑅 (𝑈𝑁𝐼𝑇: 𝑠𝑒𝑐𝑜𝑛𝑑𝑠) 𝑰(𝒕) = (𝒆−𝒕/𝝉 ) for current decay over time
𝑹
Current builds up over time 𝑰 𝟏
𝜺
𝑼 = 𝑷 ∫ 𝒅𝒕 = 𝑳 ∫𝟎 𝒊𝒅𝒊 = 𝟐 𝑳𝑰𝟐
𝑰(𝒕) = (𝟏 − 𝒆−𝒕/𝝉 )
𝑹

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