31EMA Electromagnetism 2023/2024 Q3

Exercises for Studio Classroom sessions

Week 4

SESSION 1

Exercise 4.1: Point charge in dielectric material

Consider a point charge Q in the origin of a spherical coordinate
system. The point charge is surrounded by a dielectric material with
dielectric constant ϵr in the region r < R. In this exercise we will
make use of both versions of Gauss’s law in order to determine the
electric field both outside and inside the dielectric.
(a) Argue, which direction the electric field has, inside and outside
the dielectric.
(b) Determine the electric field outside the dielectric (r > R). Hint:
Use the old version of Gauss’s law, equation (5.8) in the reader.
(c) Use the new version of Gauss’s law (equation (5.9) from the reader) to determine the
electric field inside the dielectric (r < R).
(d) Sketch a graph for the radial dependence E(r) of the electric field magnitude. Argue
whether the electric field is continuous at r = R.
(e) Using V (r = ∞) = 0, determine the potential V (r) for both r > R and r < R. Hint: Start
with the case r > R.
(f) Sketch a graph for the radial dependence of the potential V (r). Argue whether the potential
is continuous at r = R.

Step-by-step recipe: Gauss’s law - also for dielectrics

In exercise 4.1, you saw that applying Gauss’s law works very similar in vacuum and in
dielectric media. You can still make use of the general steps described in the recipe on
Gauss’s law (Appendix B.2 of the reader). Make sure to use one of the two equations for
Gauss’s law consistently and do not mix them.

Exercise 4.2: Planar capacitor with dielectric material

The plates of a planar capacitor are oriented parallel to
the xy-plane and are located at z = 0 and z = d. The
plates have area A and carry the charges +Q and −Q,
respectively. The region between the plates is filled with
a dielectric material with dielectric constant ϵr .
(a) Argue why the electric field must be zero outside of
the capacitor (regions z < 0 and z > d).
(b) Determine the electric field E inside the capacitor (region 0 < r < d). Hint: Use the new
version of Gauss’s law (equation (5.9) from the reader).
(c) Calculate the potential difference ∆V between the two capacitor plates.

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 (d) Find an expression for the capacitance C. Check that your result only includes geometrical
parameters and material properties.
Inside of a dielectric material, the energy density of the electric field is given by (equation (5.14)
in the reader)
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uE = ϵr ϵ0 E 2
2

(e) Determine the total energy UE stored in the electric field inside the capacitor. Express
your result in terms of C and V and compare your result with the formula for an empty
capacitor (Hint: Look up your result to excercise 3.7e).

Exercise 4.3: Current along a cylinder

A long straight cylindrical wire with radius R is running along the z-axis and carries current
both through its volume and on its surface. The current density inside the wire (r < R) is given
⃗ = αrẑ with a constant α, the surface current density is uniform: K
by J(r) ⃗ = K ẑ.
(a) Determine the units of the constants K and α.
(b) Calculate the total current I running along the wire in z-direction. Mind that I is not a
vector!

Exercise 4.4: Lorentz force on a moving ion

An ion with charge q and mass m has a velocity
⃗v = vx̂, as it is passing the yz-plane. In the region
x > 0, a homogeneous magnetic field B ⃗ = B ẑ is
present.
(a) Determine a vector expression for the Lorentz
force acting on the ion.
Due to the Lorentz force, the ion is moving on a
circular path with speed ⃗v = −v eˆϕ .
(b) Again, determine a vector expression for the
Lorentz force in cylindrical coordinates.
(c) Determine the radius r of the circular path,
v2
for which the Lorentz force is providing the required central acceleration ar = r
.
As the Lorentz force depends on the speed of the particle, it can be used to sort particles by
their speed.

Electromagnetism in the real world: Wien filter

For many applications working with charged particles - like electron microscopes and
mass spectrometers - the incoming particles need to have the same speed. To achieve that,
all particles with a different speed are filtered out and only the particles with the target
speed enter the instrument. One common realization of the velocity selection is the Wien
filter, in which both a homogeneous magnetic field and a homogeneous electric field are
present. We will take a closer look on the working principle in this exercise.

We again consider an ion with charge q, mass m and velocity ⃗v = vx̂ as it passes the origin of a
Cartesian coordinate system. In the region x > 0, a homogeneous magnetic field B ⃗ = B ẑ and a
homogeneous electric field with magnitude E are present.

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 (d) Argue what direction the electric field must have to cancel the Lorentz force on the moving
ion.
(e) Find an expression for the target speed v0 , which a particle needs to have in order to pass
the Wien filter on a straight path. Check, that your result does not depend on the particle
charge.
(f) Make a sketch of the filter region (x > 0) in the xy plane and mark the starting point of
the ions in the origin. Add the path of an ion at target speed v0 (straight line). Sketch two
possible paths for ions with slightly higher speed and slightly lower speed, respectively.

SESSION 2

Exercise 4.5: Dielectric layer in capacitor

A large planar capacitor consists of two plates
with area A, which are positioned parallel to the
xy-plane. The plate at z = 0 carries charge −Q,
the plate at z = d carries charge +Q. The capac-
itor is filled with a dielectric layer with dielectric
constant ϵr in the region 0 < z < h, with the
thickness h obeying 0 < h < d.
As in most exercises, you can neglect boundary effects (assuming A ≫ d2 ) and consider air to
behave the same as vacuum here (using ϵair
r = 1).

(a) Argue why the electric field outside the capacitor (z < 0 and z > d) must be zero.
(b) Argue why the electric field is homogeneous in the region h < z < d (air-filled part) as
well as the region 0 < z < h (dielectric layer).
(c) Determine a vector expression for the electric field in the air-filled part of the capacitor
(h < z < d).
(d) Determine a vector expression for the electric field in the dielectric layer (0 < z < h).
(e) Determine the electric potential difference ∆V between the capacitor plates and calculate
the capacitance C(h).
(f) Use h = 0 and h = d in your expression for C(h) from (e) and reassure yourself that the
outcome is in line with your expectation. Hint: Compare your results to the expression
from exercise 4.2d.
We can consider this geometry as a serial connection of two capacitors: One with capacitance
Cdiel , which is completely filled with the dielectric layer, and one with capacitance Cair , which
is air-filled.
(g) Determine expressions for Cdiel (h) and Cair (h) and check, that in series they combine to
C(h).

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Exercise 4.6: Capacitive level sensor in a water tank

Electromagnetism in the real world: Liquid level sensors

In vehicles as well as in industrial processes, monitoring the liquid level in tanks is crucial.
Ideally, the level sensor needs to provide accurate results, requires no maintenance for a
long time, is easy to calibrate and insensitive to other external parameters (e.g. tempera-
ture changes and turbulence). One common realization of such a level sensor is a capacitor,
which is immersed into the liquid and changes capacitance due to the dielectric constant
of the liquid.

A capacitive sensor in a water tank (see left figure) consists of a long cylindrical capacitor
(conducting solid core with radius R1 , conducting shell with inner radius R2 , length L). The
capacitor is charged with a constant voltage ∆V . The liquid in the tank fills the inside of the
capacitor up to a height h (see right figure) and has a dielectric constant ϵr .

Figure 1: Capacitive sensor in a water tank (left) with a cylindrical geometry (right)

(a) Using the potential difference ∆V , argue why the electric field distribution E(r) must be
the same in the air-filled part and the water-filled part of the capacitor.
The electric field can only be the same in the air-filled part and the water-filled part, if the
charge density on the capacitor is different in both parts. In the following we will determine the
unknown charge densities for both parts. First we consider the air-filled part, starting from a
line charge density λair and step-by-step determining its relation with the potential difference
∆V . Afterwards we can rearrange the relation to express the unknown line charge density λair
using the known voltage ∆V . Take the following steps:
(b) When the line charge density λair is present on the core of the capacitor, find an expression
for the electric field magnitude E(r) for R1 < r < R2 in the air-filled part.
(c) Use your result for E(r), to calculate the potential difference ∆V between core and shell
of the capacitor. Express ∆V in terms of λair .
(d) Rearrange your result from (c) to express λair in terms of ∆V .
(e) Repeat steps (b)-(d) for the water filled part of the capacitor to find an expression for
λwater in terms of ∆V .
(f) Determine the total charge Q on the core of the capacitor and express the capacitance
C(h) in terms of ϵr , L, h and other geometrical parameters.
To calibrate the level sensor, the capacitance is measured with an empty tank (C(0)) and with a
full tank (C(L)). From the measured capacitance C(h), the water level h needs to be retrieved.
(g) Fill in h = 0 and h = L in your result for (f), to find simple expressions for C(0) and
C(L). Express C(h) in C(0) and C(L) and rearrange the formula to determine h from
C(h), C(0) and C(L).

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Exercise 4.7: Lorentz force on a wire
Consider a piece of wire as depicted on the right,
consisting of a half circular shape with radius R
around the z-axis between x = R and x = −R
and a straight part of length L between x = R
and x = L + R. A current I runs through the wire,
which is supplied by two straight lead wires running
parallel to the z-axis for z < 0. Consequently, the
current is carried in −z-direction at x = −R and
in +z-direction at x = L + R (as indicated in red
in the figure). A constant homogeneous magnetic field B ⃗ = Bx x̂ + Bz ẑ is present. We are going
to calculate the Lorentz force acting on the whole configuration of wires.
(a) Argue why the total Lorentz force on the lead wires is zero.
Therefore we can ignore the lead wires in the following. First consider the straight part of the
wire between x = R and x = L + R.
(b) Consider a small wire element of length dl. Find an expression for d⃗l pointing along the
direction of current I.
(c) Determine the force dF⃗ = Id⃗l × B,
⃗ acting on the wire element due to the magnetic field
⃗ Check with the right-hand-rule that the direction of dF⃗ is correct.
B.
´
(d) Integrate along the wire segment to find the total force F⃗1 = dF⃗ .
Secondly, consider the curved part of the wire.
(e) Use cylindrical coordinates to split the curved wire segment in small parts dϕ and repeat
the steps from (b)-(d) to determine the total force F⃗2 on this curved segment. Hint: To
evaluate the cross product, express ϕ̂ in cartesian coordinates (using x̂ and ŷ).
(f) Add your results from (d) and (e), to find the total force F⃗ = F⃗1 + F⃗2 on the whole wire
and compare the result to your expectation.

Step-by-step recipe: Lorentz force on wires

In exercise 4.5a-d, the problem solving strategy closely resembles the method described
in the recipe to determine the Lorentz force on any shape of wire. Before continuing with
the other exercises, be sure to study that recipe.

Exercise 4.8: Lorentz force on a closed loop

Consider a circular loop of wire with radius R around
the origin in the xy-plane. A current I is running
through the wire in counterclockwise direction. A con-
stant homogeneous magnetic field B ⃗ = Bx x̂ + By ŷ + Bz ẑ
is present.
(a) Find a vector expression for d⃗l, the direction vec-
tor of a small wire element enclosing the angle dϕ.
(b) Determine an expression for the Lorentz force dF⃗
acting on the wire element. Hint: Mind the signs
when evaluating the cross product of the different
components.

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 (c) Determine the total Lorentz force on the wire loop.
(d) Make a sketch of the wire loop in the xy-plane. For different wire elements along the loop,
indicate the force dF⃗ using arrows. Use symmetry arguments to validate your result from
(c).
In order to obtain a non-zero Lorentz force, we consider an inhomogeneous magnetic field, given
by B⃗ = Bz (y)ẑ = αyẑ.
(e) Substitute this new field distribution into your expression for dF⃗ from (b) and execute the
integration to find the total Lorentz force F⃗ in the inhomogeneous field. Hint: You may
need the relation y = R sin ϕ for points on the circular wire.
(f) Check with the right-hand-rule whether the direction of total Lorentz force is correct.