EEN 330

Electromagnetics I
Dr. M. Bou Sanayeh
Chapter 1

Introduction
Learning outcomes
 Introduce concept of electric & magnetic fields
 Describe the electromagnetic spectrum
 Explain how electromagnetics is fundamental to wireless
communications
 Provide guidelines for numeric precision and the handling of
dimensions
 Provide a tutorial introduction to MATLAB
 Review basic wave propagation
 Describe use of phasors for representing time-harmonic
signals

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 Key historical
events in EM
 Fig. 1.1 in TB

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1.1 Electromagnetic fields
1.1.1 Electric fields
 Atoms  electrons (e-), protons (p+) and neutrons
 Electrons have a negative electric charge
 Protons have a positive electric charge

 Repulsive force between like charges (e.g. 2 e-)

 Attractive force between unlike charges (e- and p+)

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1.1 Electromagnetic fields
1.1.1 Electric fields
 A vector contains both magnitude and direction. A field is the
mapping of a spatial scalar or vector quantity.

 For example, if we consider the force exerted by the nucleus

on any arbitrary amount of charge, we say this is the electric
field (E-field) of the nucleus.

 An electric charge is the source of an E-field. Lines of an E-field

begin on positive charges and end on negative charges.

 Once the field is known, we can calculate the force on any

charged object placed within the field (e.g. an e-)
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1.1 Electromagnetic fields
1.1.1 Electric fields
 For example, a capacitor stores energy in the electric field
within the dielectric material between the capacitor’s charged
plates.

 Most dielectrics are characterized by their permittivity ε

– ε = εr εo

– εr is the relative permittivity (sometimes termed dielectric

constant, see Appendix E for values for some common
materials)
– εo is the free space permittivity
 εo = 8.854 x 10-12 [Farads/meter] or [F/m]

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1.1 Electromagnetic fields
1.1.2 Magnetic fields
 Electric field  generated by charged particles
 Magnetic field  generated by moving charges

 Moving charges  current or

 internal motions of e- contained
within magnetic materials

 Electric field lines  start on positive charges and end

on negative charges.
 Magnetic field lines  have no start and no stop points,
but are rather continuous loops,
encompassing the source of magnetic field.

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1.1 Electromagnetic fields
1.1.2 Magnetic fields
 For example, an inductor stores energy in the magnetic field.

 A typical inductor is a coil or length of conductive wire such

that current in the wire establishes magnetic field. The field can
be enhanced by using magnetic materials, characterized by
material permeability µ
 µ = µr µo
– µr = relative permeability
– µo = free space permeability
 µo = 4π x 10-7 [Henrys/meter] or [H/m]

 See Appendix E for values of µr for some common materials.

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1.1 Electromagnetic fields
1.1.3 Field linkage
 Time-varying magnetic field produces electric field (Faraday)
 Time-varying electric field produces magnetic field (Maxwell)
 Maxwell Equations

 The linked fields are termed the electromagnetic field

 A time-varying source will generate an electromagnetic wave
 Energy is carried by this wave, propagating at the speed of light
in free space (light itself is basically an electromagnetic wave)
 Waves can also be guided by specific structures called
waveguides, such as optical fibers to guide light.
* Michael Faraday (22 September 1791 – 25 August 1867) was an English chemist and physicist.
* James Clerk Maxwell (13 June 1831 – 5 November 1879) was a Scottish theoretical physicist and mathematician.

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1.2 The Electromagnetic spectrum
• Fig. 1.2 in TB Frequency
ranges from 0.1 Hz to 1023 Hz,
where Hz (Hertz*) is equal to
one cycle per second.

•In vacuum, wavelength λ and

frequency f are related by the
speed of light:

c=λf

where c = 2.998 x 108 [m/s]

* Heinrich Hertz (1857-1894) was a German physicist

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1.2 The Electromagnetic spectrum

Gamma and X-rays released

from black holes

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1.3 Wireless communications
 Electromagnetics play an important role in wireless
communications ( 1 and 100 GHz)

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1.4 Dealing with units
 Use engineering notation to report large or small numbers
 Report numbers to appropriate precision

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1.5 Working with Matlab
 Review you ENG 202 Computers and Engineering course!

 MATLAB (Matrix laboratory) is a powerful tool for numerical

computation and graphing output

 Understanding some of the concepts of electromagnetics is

enhanced by MATLAB demonstrations

 Numerous examples and problems in the text employ

MATLAB

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 1.5 Working with Matlab
 Matlab 1.1: Parallel plate capacitor

% Initialize variables
S=1e-4; er=2.1;
eo=8.854e-12;
d=1e-4:0.2e-4:2e-4;
ε rε o S
% Perform calculation C=
Cap=er*eo*S./d; d
% Create plot
plot(d,Cap)
xlabel('separation distance d (m)')
ylabel('Capacitance (F)')
title('Parallel Plate Capacitor')
grid on

HW: Do Drill 1.4

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 Toss a stone in a quite pool  ripples travel away from the
point of impact.

 Waves travel, or propagate, at a particular velocity and carry

energy with them.

 Other type of waves include sound waves, mechanical waves

traveling as ripples in a rope, and of course light traveling as
electromagnetic waves.

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 1.6 Wave fundamentals
 The general equation for a sinusoidal wave traveling in the +z-
direction is
distance component time component

A ( z, t ) Aoe−α z cos (ωt − β z + φ )

=
where Ao e −α z is the amplitude
Ao is the amplitude at z = 0
α is the attenuation constant in Nepers/meter
(ωt − β z + φ ) is the phase
ω is the angular frequency (ω = 2π f ) in radians/second
β is the phase constant in radians/meter
φ is the phase shift
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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 A(z,t) represent the value of the wave at some point z at a
specified time t.

 Let us consider first that the phase shift φ = 0 and look at the
wave vs. time when z = 0, then we have
A(0, t ) = A 0 e − α (0 ) cos(ωt − β(0 ) + 0 ) = A 0 cos(ωt )

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 Sinusoidal plot at z = 0 versus time A(0, t ) = A 0 cos(ωt )

A
o
A(0,t)

1
T=
T f
-A o
t (seconds)

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 A characteristic of a sine or cosine is that it repeats every 2π
radians (or 360°). Put another way, we have
 cos(ωt) = 1 for ωt = n2π n = 0,1,2,…
 The period T is the time elapsed for one cycle or ωT = (1)2π
 Solving we get

2π [rad] 1
T [s] = =
ω [rad s] f [Hz]

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 1.6 Wave fundamentals
 We can reinsert the phase shift φ  A(0, t ) = A 0 cos(ωt + φ)
 Sinusoidal plot at z = 0 versus time and φ = - 45°
Ao

45 o

HW: plot for

different
values of φ
A(0,t)

on MATLAB.
Remember:
angles in
radians.

-Ao
t (seconds)

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 Now let us look at the wave vs. position z when time = 0.
Assume that the wave is in a lossless medium (like vacuum)
where there is no attenuation. In this case, the attenuation
constant α = 0 and e−αz = 1.
 We have

A(z,0 ) = A 0 e −0(z ) cos(ω0 − βz + 0 ) = A 0 cos(− βz )

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 Sinusoidal plot at t = 0 versus z  A(z,0) = A 0 cos(− βz )

2π
β=
λ

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 We again have 2π radians repeat per cycle 
 cos(-βz) =1 for βz = n2π n = 0,1,2,…
 The wavelength λ is the distance elapsed for one cycle or βλ = (1)2π
 Solving we get

2π [rad]
β [rad m] =
λ [ m]

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 Now let us insert attenuation  A(z,0) = A 0e − αz cos(− βz )
Ao

−α z
e Note:
Line does not
exist, it is just
A(z,0)

the envelope
of the cosine
wave

-Ao
z (meters)

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1.6 Wave fundamentals
 We are now ready to consider traveling waves.
 Let us consider a lossless medium (α = 0) and we’ll let φ = 0

A(z, t ) = A 0 e −0(z ) cos(ωt − βz + 0 ) = A 0 cos(ωt − βz )

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 1.6 Wave fundamentals
Ao
A(z,t)

-Ao
z (meters)

ω λ
propagation velocity u p [m/s] = = λf =
β T
MATLAB 1.5 is a traveling
wave animation
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 1.6 Wave fundamentals
Example 1.2: Wave equation for electric field
We want to write a wave equation for the case where we have a
100 MHz electric field with 1 V/m amplitude propagating in the +
z direction in air.
• Assume air is a lossless medium, so α = 0
• Given f = 100 MHz, angular frequency ω = 200π x 106 rad/s
• In air, where c ≈ 3 x 108 m/s, wavelength λ = c/f = 3m

(
( z, t ) 1cos 200π x106 t − ( 2π 3) z + φ
• Thus: E= ) V
m
.

• If we assume phase shift φ = 0°, then

= (
E ( z , t ) 1cos 200π x106 t − ( 2π 3) z ) V
m
.

Do Drill 1.7
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1.7 Phasors
 Fields that vary sinusoidally with position and time are called time-
harmonic fields.

 Time-harmonic signals may be represented by phasors.

 A phasor gives the magnitude and the phase of a sinusoidal wave.

 Use of phasors can simplify mathematics, as the time factor is

removed from the analysis.

 Phasors are based on the use of complex numbers (see Appendix C

for a summary of complex numbers)

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 1.7 Phasors
 At a fixed point in time, the value of a sinusoidal wave can be
represented vs. position by a polar plot of its amplitude r and
phase θ.

e jθ cos θ + j sin θ
Euler's identity:=

re jθ =r ∠θ =r cos θ + jr sin θ

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1.7 Phasors
Representation of a wave
 Consider a lossless wave traveling in the +z-direction, given by
the instantaneous form expression of

A(z, t ) = A 0 cos(ωt − βz )

 Using Euler’s identity, we can write

[ ] [ ] [
A( z , t ) = Re A0 e j (ωt −βz ) = Re A0 e j (ωt )e − j (βz ) = Re As e jωt ]
 The phasor form of the wave removes the time dependence
and suppresses the “Re[ ]”, giving

A s = A 0 e − jβ z

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