148 E L E C T R O S T A T I C S I N T H E P R E S E N C E O F M A T T E R

Figure 10-7. Cavity used to measure E in a

dielectric.

Q will still produce the field E 0 , the resultant field E is seen to be

E = E0 — E b (10-25)
so that E < E 0 in agreement with (10-24) and experiment. Thus, this method of
evaluating the field inside the material by the use of equivalent bound charge agrees, in
this case at least, with experiment and our general ideas about the relation between
electric field and potential as expressed by (6-38).
Although we briefly alluded to the difficulty of actually measuring the electric field in
the dielectric by means of a test charge, one can still ask if there is a way of doing it—
obviously we will have to cut a hole in order to insert the charge. It is possible to devise
such a scheme by means of a judicious use of the boundary conditions satisfied by E; the
relevant one is (9-21), which says that E t is continuous. The reasoning is as follows: (1)
somehow determine the direction of E in the dielectric (as we will see in Section 10-6,
this is easily done for a large class of dielectrics); (2) make a long narrow hole in the
material parallel to E as shown in Figure 10-7—this cavity now has a vacuum inside
(such a cavity is usually called "needlelike"); (3) any bound surface charges that might
alter the fields are on the ends of the cavity since that is the only place P has a normal
component, and, since the ends are so far away and of such a small area, we can
neglect their effects; (4) since only tangential components are involved, E„ = E
where E, is the field in the cavity; (5) now insert a test charge Sq into the cavity and
measure the force SF, on it. Then, by (3-14),
(5F,
E, = —8q = E (10-26)

and the electric field in the dielectric can thus be found, in principle, from measure-
ments made in the cavity. This scheme is known as the cavity definition of E.

UNIFORMLY POLARIZED SPHERE

As an example of the use of bound charges, let us consider a sphere of radius a that has
a constant polarization P. We choose the z axis to be in the direction of P and the
origin at the center of the sphere as shown in Figure 10-8; thus, P = P. Since P is
constant, p b = 0 by (10-10). We see from the figure that the outer normal to the
dielectric IR' = it, and therefore there is a bound surface charge density which is found
from (10-8) and (1-94) to be
a b (01 = P cos 0' (10-27)
As we see, a b is not constant but varies in magnitude and sign with angle as indicated
in Figure 10-9. For simplicity, we will find the potential and electric field only for
points on the z axis and for positive z; in the next chapter, we solve this problem
completely by a quite different method.
We see from Figure 10-10 that
R = ( z 2 + a 2 2za cos 19') 1 / 2 (10-28)
and, therefore, if we use (10-27), (1-100) (with r = a), and (2-22), we find that 4) as
 10- 4 U N IF OR M LY POLAR IZ ED SPH ER E 149

Figure 10-9. Equivalent charge

Figure 10-8. A uniformly polarized distribution of a uniformly
sphere. polarized sphere.

given by (10 9) is
-

1 f2„ r P cos O' - a 2 sin 0' c/0' dcp'

(z) = a 2za cos 01
1/2

47r€0 Jo Jo (z2 + 2_
Pa z (1 p, dp, (10-29)

0 _1 (z — 2c a2
2zatt)1/2
The integral can be found from tables to be 1 (10-30)
(Z 2 a2 zatt)(z2 +a2 — 2za,u 1 /2 )

3z 2a2
-1
,
al) — za(Iz + al + jz al)] —

3z 2 a 2 [(z + a )(Iz + al — Iz —
2 2
Figure 10-10. Calculation of the potential at a point on
and there are two cases to be considered.
the axis.
150 ELECTROSTATICS IN THE PRESENCE OF MATTER

1. Outside the sphere. Here z > a and lz — al = z — a; also lz + al = z + a

since both z and a are positive. Using these values, we find that (10-30) becomes
2a/3z 2 and when this is put into (10-29) we find the potential outside the sphere
to be
Pa3 (10-31)
4: p„( z) = _______________
-

€ oz
3 2

and therefore
.900 2Pa3
Ezo(z) = — (10-32)
az 3c0z3
These results become more understandable if we express them in terms of the total
dipole moment p of the sphere which, as found from (10-2), is
p = 34,77.a3pi (10-33)
so that (10-31) and (10-32) can also be written as
4o(z) = ________________________P ( 1 0 - 3 4 )
477-coz2
Ezo(z) = ___2p (10-35)
47r€0z 3

Upon comparing these results with (8-48) and (8-50), and remembering that 0 = 0 and
r = z for a field point on the z axis, we see that they are exactly those of a point dipole
of total moment p. This makes us suspect that the field everywhere outside is a dipole
field corresponding to this total dipole moment; this turns out to be correct as we will
see in the next chapter.
2. Inside the sphere. Here z < a, so that lz— al = a — z; again, lz + al
=z + a. In this case, (10-30) becomes 2z/3a 2, which, when put into (10-29), gives
the potential inside the sphere as
Pz
4 ` ( z ) = 3 E (10-36)
°
and therefore
Ez,(z) = airi
(10-37)
az 3
eo
We note that the electric field is constant; this may make us suspect that E is constant
throughout the whole interior of the sphere, and this turns out to be the case.
It will be left as an exercise to show that these same results also hold for negative
values of z, that is, E zo is always in the positive direction, and E zi is constant and
given by (10-37) for all z. In Figure 10-11, we illustrate the directions for E that we
have found; these directions can be understood from the source charge distribution
shown in Figure 10-9.
It is a worthwhile exercise to verify that these results are in agreement with the
general boundary conditions we previously obtained. We find from (10-31) and (10-36)
that the potential is indeed continuous at the surface of the sphere as we found in
(9-29), that is, when z = a, 43 o = O i = Pa/3c o . Along the z axis, E z is a normal
component, and therefore we find that
2P ( P = P = b(0)
E 2 , Ei n = E z o ( a) Ez,(a) = (-370-) —
 1 0 - 5 T H E D F I E L D 151

Figure 10-11. Electric fields on z axis due to a uniformly

polarized sphere.

with the use of (10-32), (10-37), and (10-27). This value for the difference in the normal
components is exactly what it should be according to (9-26).

THE D FIELD
We recall that when we defined E in Section 3-1, we pointed out that E is determined,
from its definition, by all charges of whatever origin or type. In Section 10-2, we
encountered a particular class of charge—the bound charge whose density is given by
(10-10) as p b = –v - P. It is conventional and convenient to divide charge into the two
broad classes of bound charge and free charge with corresponding densities Pb and p f . As
we have seen, we regard the bound charges as arising from the constituents of matter,
and we generally have no control over their distribution. Free charges, aye essentially
the rest of the charges. The name "free" is given to them because we Yam control their
distribution to a large extent by physically moving them about, by spraying them onto
or into material by electron beams, for example, and the like. This class is also generally
taken to include the mobile (free) charges of conductors. This division does not always
give us a clear-cut classification, but it is useful nevertheless. Thus, we can write the total
charge density as the sum of these two:
Ptotal P Pf P b Pf V • P
and when this is substituted into v • E = p/€ 0 , as we found in (4-10), (10-38)
we obtain
(c 0 E P) = p 1 (10-39)
The form of this equation, in which only the free charge density appears on the
right-hand side, suggests that it may be useful to define a vector field D(r) as follows:
D = foE + P (10 40) -
152 ELECTROSTATICS IN THE PRESENCE OF MATTER

for then
v - D = pf (10-41)
The vector D is often called the electric displacement or simply the displacement, or,
even more simply, the D field. The principal characteristic of D, and the primary reason
for its definition, is its property that its divergence depends only on the free charge
density. The dimensions of D are the same as those of P, and thus D will be measured
in coulombs/(meter) 2 . We can think of (10-41) as an expression of Coulomb's law for
the force between point charges plus the electrical effects of matter.
Now that we have (10-41), we can quickly find some of the properties of D. The
boundary condition satisfied by its normal component can be found from (10-41), (9-6),
(9-7), and (9-24) to be
fl• (D2 — 01) = D
2n D
in = (10-42)
where of is the surface density of free charge. Thus, the normal component of D will be
discontinuous only if there is a free surface charge density; this is in contrast to E
whose normal component is discontinuous if there is a surface density of any kind of
charge.
Gauss' law for D is easily found from (10-41) and (1-59) to be

fisD • da f p f dT = Qf,in (10-43)

where Q f is the net free charge contained within the volume V surrounded by the
, in

closed surface S. We note both the analogy to and the contrast with the corresponding
result for E given by (4-1). Equation 10-43 can often be advantageously used for the
calculation of D for problems of sufficient symmetry, in much the same manner as we
did for E in Chapter 4.
Even though (10-41) contains only the free charge density, this does not mean that
free charges are the only source for D, since, according to the Helmholtz theorem of
Section 1-20, we have found only one of the source equations. The remaining one is
v x D. This is easily found by taking the curl of the definition (10-40) and using (5-4);
the result is
vxD=vxP (10-44)
so that D can have sources in bound charges as well as in free ones. The boundary
condition satisfied by the tangential component of D can be found most easily from
(9-21) and (10-40) to be
D
2t = P
2t P
lt (10-45)
It is also possible to devise a cavity definition for D in a manner analogous to that
for E as illustrated in Figure 10-7. The definition is based on the continuity of the
normal components of D in the absence of free surface charge, as stated in (10-42). For
this purpose, we imagine a cavity in the form of a small right cylinder whose height is
very small compared to the radius of its base. It is cut out of the dielectric so that its
base is perpendicular to D in the dielectric as shown in Figure 10-12. If we consider a
point near the center of the cavity, the edges will be too far away to affect the fields so
that D„ (in the cavity) will be parallel to D (in the dielectric), and since, by construc -
tion, they have only normal components, D, = D. Then E = D,/€ 0 = D/€ 0 since P
= 0 in the vacuum of the cavity. If we now imagine putting a small test charge Sq in the
cavity and measuring the force SF, on it, we will have 8F„ = S q E, = S q D/€ 0 , so that
D E 0 (8F,/8q). Thus, in principle, we can find D in the dielectric from measurements
made in the cavity.
 10-5 THE D FIELD 153

Figure 10-12. Cavity used to measure D in a

dielectric.

Figure 10-13. D fields on z axis due to a uniformly

polarized sphere.

In spite of their apparent simplicity, (10-41) and (10-44) clearly will not be too useful
until we can relate E, P, and D better; we will do this in the next two sections.
Nevertheless, we can still briefly look at an example.

■ Example
Uniformly polarized sphere. This is the system we discussed in the last section for which
the results are summarized in Figures 10-8, 10-9, and 10-11. We would like to obtain
similar things for D; we will continue to consider only field points on the positive z
axis. Outside the sphere where there is no matter, P = 0, and we find at once from
(10-40) and (10-32) that
2Pcd
D„(z) = € 0 E z o = ______
3z3
The value of D. inside the sphere as obtained from (10-40) and (10-37) is
Dzi(z) €0Ezi + P — + P = iP

which is seen to be independent of z and in the same direction as P. These results are
illustrated in Figure 10-13. Since there is no free charge on the surface, we expect the
154 ELECTROSTATICS IN THE PRESENCE OF MATTER

normal components of D to be continuous there according to (10-42). We can verify

this and check our results at the same time. We get, as expected, Den — D 1 n
D z o (a) D z i (a) = (2P/3) — (2P/3) = 0. ■

CLASSIFICATION OF DIELECTRICS
As we mentioned at the end of Section 10-1, we generally expect that there will be a
functional relation between the polarization and the electric field, that is, P = P(E) or
P x = P x (E x , E y , E z ) and so on. Macroscopic descriptive electromagnetic theory does not
predict the form of these functions, but takes them as external information. From this
point of view, these relations are left to be determined from experiment or to be
calculated theoretically from the microscopic properties of matter in other branches of
physics such as statistical mechanics and solid state physics. This does not leave us in a
hopeless position, however, because a combination of experiment and general theory
shows us that most materials fall into easily classifiable groups, and this result can be
used to simplify our theory and make it more useful. It is desirable to do this step by
step in order to aid our understanding of the limitations of our final form.

1. Permanent Polarization
If E = 0, there are two possibilities for the value of P(0). If P(0) 0, then the material
is polarized even in the absence of a field and, as we noted before, it is said to have a
permanent polarization and is called an electret. Although electrets do occur, we will not
consider them further in this section. The situation for which P(0) = 0 is more typical
and the sort of thing we expect when we think of the polarization as being produced by
the field; we shall generally use the term dielectric only for this latter case.

2. Nonlinear Dielectrics
Even with P(0) = 0, it is still possible that the relation between P and E can be quite
complicated. For most materials, however, this usually requires quite exceptional
conditions such as very large fields, or low temperatures, or both. Thus, it is found that
it is often sufficient to write P as a power series expansion in the components of E, that
is, we can write

= aiiE j+ E EflikE E, +
j (10-48)
k

where the indices i, j, and k take on the values x, y, and z; we note that this form
satisfies our assumption that P(0) = 0. The specific values of the coefficients a ii , jk ,
will depend upon the particular dielectric involved. If the second-order or higher terms
in the components of E are required to describe the material adequately, the dielectric
is called nonlinear. It requires experiment to determine whether (10-48) is necessary in a
given case; for example, some ceramics fall into this category. We will not consider
nonlinear dielectrics further, but now restrict ourselves to cases for which only the first
term in (10-48) is required; such materials are called linear dielectrics.
 10-6 CLASSIFICAT ION OF DIELECTRICS 155
3. Linear Dielectrics
In this case, the general expression relating the components of P to the components of
E can be written in the form
Px = €0(XxxEx + X
_ x y E
y XxzEz)

P
Y = E
0(x yxE x X

_yyEy XyzEz) (10-49)

Pz CO(Xzx E
x ± X
_zyEy XzzEz)

where the proportionality factors x, are called components of the electric susceptibility
tensor. We have introduced the factor c o so that the x i j will be dimensionless as can be
seen from (10-40). In general, the x j need not be constants but may be a function of
position within the material. The ?c if cannot depend on E because that would bring us
back to the nonlinear case of (10-48). We see from the form of these relations that P
will not be parallel to E even in linear dielectrics, nor will D generally be parallel to E.
This situation is quite common in crystals and leads to such phenomena as double
refraction. We can now proceed to our next simplifying assumption.

4. Linear Isotropic Dielectrics

We now assume in addition that at a given point the electrical properties of the
dielectric are independent of the direction of E; such a condition is known as isotropy.
Since one direction is completely equivalent to any other, P must necessarily be parallel
to E, the x i j = 0 if i j, and X xx = x yy = x„, so that (10-49) can be written in terms of
a single factor of proportionality as
P = XeEOE (10-50)
where x e is called the electric susceptibility. Combining (10-50) with (10-40), we find
that
D = (1 + Xe) O = KeE0E = EEE E
(10-51)
where
Ic e= Xe dielectric constant = relative permittivity (10-52)
= KeE0 = (absolute) permittivity (10-53)
The quantities x e , K e , and c will characterize the electrical properties of the material
and are to be found by experiment; their values can be found in many tables. For all
known substances, X e is positive for static fields and therefore IC, > 1. We see from
(10-51) that D and E are parallel in this situation. The equation D = EE is called a
constitutive equation; it is not a fundamental equation of electromagnetism but is
applicable only where it turns out to be applicable, so to speak.
In this case of linear isotropic dielectrics, we can also find the differential equation
satisfied by the scalar potential. Using (5-3), we can write (10-51) as D = vcA, and if
we substitute this into (10-41), and use (1-115) and (1-45), we obtain
V - (E VO) = V 20 ± Vc5 • V( = -pf (10-54)
as the equation we would have to solve for 4 since we still must allow for the possibility
that c is a function of position, and we can go no further until this dependence is
known.
Our next simplification leads to such an important situation that we will allot it its
own section.
156 E L E C T R O S T A T I C S I N T H E PR E S E N C E O F M A T T E R

LINEAR ISOTROPIC HOMOGENEOUS (I.i.h.) DIELECTRICS

We now assume in addition that the electrical properties are independent of position;
such materials are called electrically homogeneous. Generally gases and liquids, as well
as many solids, fall into this category so that it is not such a special situation as one
might think. Then the quantities x e , K , and E are constants; they are still characteristic
e

of the material, however. Equations 10-50 through 10-53 are still applicable and, in
addition, (10-54) simplifies to
v = p f
(10-55)
since now ve = 0. By comparison with (5-15), we see that for l.i.h. dielectrics the
potential cp again satisfies Poisson's equation but with E replacing c o and p f replacing
the total charge density p. (The bound charges of the material haven't disappeared, of
course, but their effect is now summarized in the factor c.) The fact that cb satisfies the
equation (10-55) also means that for l.i.h. dielectrics we can, with care, bodily take over
solutions we have previously found for the vacuum case and simply replace E by c o ; we
will do little of this, however. Also, if p f = 0, then c will again satisfy Laplace's
equation v = 0 in this region.
The boundary conditions at a surface of discontinuity can now be expressed
completely in terms of E. If we insert (10-51) into (10-42), and remember that (9-21) is
still applicable, we obtain
(c 2 E 2 — € 1 E 1 ) = o f
E 2 t E l t
(10-56)

But now we see that, even if crf = 0, the normal components of E will not generally be
continuous across the bounding surface separating two dielectrics, so that, as shown in
Figure 10-14, the direction of E can change at the boundary. Thus, the lines of E can be
refracted even in the absence of a free surface charge density and a 2 will be different
from al.
In a 1.i.h. dielectric, the bound and free charge densities are related in a simple way,
as are the polarization and the displacement. If we eliminate E between (10-50) and
(10-51), and use (10-52), we find that
Xe (Ke — 1)
P = —D = _______________________________(10 57) -

Ke Ke

Figure 10-14. Electric fields at a boundary

between two dielectrics.
 10-7 LINEAR ISOTROPIC HOMOGENEOUS (I.i.h.) DIELECTRICS 157

which shows us that P and D are also parallel and that I P1 < I D I. Now if we take the
divergence of (10-57) and use (10-10) and (10-41), we get
(Ke— 1 ) Ph _Pf
Ke
(10-58)
so that IPbi < I p f . If we insert this result into (10-38), we
find that the total charge density in a 1.i.h. dielectric can always be written as
Pf Ph
P= = (10-59)
Ke Ke— 1
which shows us that the total charge density is always less than the free charge density
since K e > 1. As a special case, we see that if p f = 0, then Pb = 0, so that at any point
in a 1.i.h. dielectric where there is no free charge density, there is no bound charge
density either.
From now on, we will assume that we are dealing with 1.i.h. dielectrics in our
examples and exercises unless we explicitly specify otherwise. At this point, we are able
to discuss some examples quantitatively; we begin with the capacitor, which we first
considered qualitatively in Section 10-3.

■ Example
Parallel plate capacitor with charges constant. In Figure 10-15, we illustrate a capacitor
of total free charge Q f with a vacuum between the plates in (a) and with a dielectric
completely filling the region between the plates in (b). The directions of the various
field vectors are also shown. The vacuum value of the electric field was discussed in the
text immediately preceding (6-40) and was found to be E 0 = a f /c o where of = Q f /A is the
free surface charge density and A is the plate area. Since P 0 = 0, we find from (10-
40) that the displacement D o is
Do = (0E0 = of (10 60)-

Now Q f and a f are kept constant when the dielectric is put between the plates, so that D
will not be changed and will equal the vacuum value:
D D = o- f (10 61) -

This result is also consistent with (10-42) since the fields are zero inside the conducting
plate and therefore D2 71 D1, 7 = D 0 = a f . The electric field has changed, however,
—
—

since we find from (10-51), (10-61), and (10-60) that

D Do Eo
E = =___________=
— — (10-62)
E Kee° Ke

Qf
Qf

(a) (h)
Figure 10-15. Parallel plate capacitor of constant charge. (a) Vacuum between the plates.
(b) Dielectric between the plates.