Electromagnetics for Electrical Engineers

PC2020

Lecture 6
Lecturers: Chen Xudong
Gao Xianke (Richard)
Yeo Swee Ping

Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering

National University of Singapore
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Plane Wave Propagation in Lossless Media

1. Maxwell’s Equations
Equations for electricity and magnetism
Equation’s name Differential Form Integral Form

Faraday’s Law

Ampere’s Law

Gauss’s Law

Gauss’s Law for magnetism 0

C/m3 : Charge [C]

J: Current density [A/m2 ] I: Current [A]

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Maxwell’s Equations
Equation’s name Differential Form Integral Form
𝜕𝐁 𝜕𝑩
Faraday’s Law 𝛻×𝐄=− 𝐄 𝑑𝐥 = − 𝑑𝐬
𝜕t 𝜕𝑡
𝜕𝐃 𝜕𝐃
Ampere’s Law 𝛻×𝐇=𝐉+ 𝐇 𝑑𝐥 = 𝐉+ 𝑑𝐬 = 𝐼 + 𝐼
𝜕t 𝜕t

Gauss’s Law 𝛻 𝐃=ρ 𝐃 𝑑𝐬 = 𝑄

Gauss’s Law for magnetism 𝛻 𝑩 =0 𝐁 𝑑𝐬 = 0

𝜕D
: Displacement current density [A/m2 ] 𝐼 : Displacement current [A]
𝜕t

, referred to as conducting current density (sometimes detnoted as ),

is due to the movement of free electric charges.
, reffered to as displacement current density (sometimes detnoted as ),
is due to the time−variant of which does not transport free charges.

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Consequences of introducing displacement current:

•Electromagnetic wave is generated: time-variant electric field
produces magnetic field and time-variant magnetic fields also
produces electric field. Four equations are coupled together.
•Total current is continuous (for example, see figure below)

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Source voltage:

In perfectly conducting wire (medium 1), conduction current is:

In dielectric material (medium 2),

the spaceing between plates

C= 𝜀
Area of plate

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Electrostatics and magnetostatics are special cases of electromagnetics

when there is no time variation in the charge and current.
Equations for static fields
Equation’s name Differential Form Integral Form

Faraday’s Law 𝛻×𝐄=0 𝐄 𝑑𝐥 = 0

Ampere’s Law 𝛻×𝐇=𝐉 𝐇 𝑑𝐥 = 𝐉 𝑑𝐬 = 𝐼

Gauss’s Law 𝛻 𝐃=ρ 𝐃 𝑑𝐬 = 𝑄

Gauss’s Law for magnetism 𝛻 𝑩 =0 𝐁 𝑑𝐬 = 0

Electrostatics: Stationary electric charges give rise to stationary electric

fields, but no magnetic fields. The 1st and 3rd equations play the role.
Magnetostatics: Stationary currents cause stationary magnetic fields,
but no electric fields. The 2nd and 4th equations play the role.
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2. Plane Waves: Basic Equations

In a source free lossless homogeneous medium, i.e.,

Maxwell’s equations: =current density

 =charge density
 =conductivity

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Take the curl of the first equation and make use of the second and the
third equations, we have change sequence of the second order
partial differentiation:

Derivation is Identity:
NOT required

This is called the wave equation:

 2
 2E   2 E  0
t
A similar equation for H can be obtained:
 2
 2 H   2 H  0
t
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First: in free space,

the wave equation for is:

It can be shown that

c being the speed of light in free space (~ 3  108 (m/s)). Hence

the speed of light can be derived from Maxwell’s equations.

Note that the permittivity and permeability of air is almost

equal to those of free space.
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It is of particular interest to consider the time-harmonic fields, the time

variation of which takes the form of a sinusoidal function.

As all time-harmonic functions involve the common factor ejt in their

phasor form expressions, we can eliminate this factor when dealing with
the Maxwell’s equations.

The wave equation in free space, which has been derived earlier, can
now be put in phasor form as

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Next, in an arbitrary medium with  =0r and  =0 r :

Using the phasor form expression, the wave equation for E field is
also called the Helmholtz’s equation, which is:

k is called the wavenumber (or the propagation constant), which

has unit of rad/m and is equal to the number of wavelengths in a
distance of 2π meters.

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In free space,

where 0 is the free space wavelength.

In an arbitrary medium with  =0r and  =0 r,

Since most materials are

nonmagnetic, μ usually is 1.
Unless otherwise specified,
μ = 1 by default in this
We call, module.

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Further discussion on the meaning of k

k in spatial domain
is the counterpart of
 in temporal domain

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3. Solution to Helmholtz’s equation:

In Cartesian coordinates, the electric field vector can be written as

The Helmholtz’s equation can be written as three scalar equations

in terms of the respective x, y, and z components of the E field.
We start with the simplest case. For example, the electric field
vector has only the x component. In this case, the scalar equation
for the Ex component is:
+

Consider a special case of the Ex in which there is no variation of

Ex in the x and y directions, i.e.,
= =0

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Ex(z) now varies with z only. The wave equation for Ex

becomes:

Solutions to the plane wave equation take one form of the

following functions, depending on the boundary
conditions:
1.

where the third solution can be considered as a linear

superposition of the first two solutions.
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To recall:

Magnitude of velocity:

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Solution for the magnetic field

Once the electric field is known, the accompanying
magnetic field H can be found from the Maxwell’s equation

For the simplest case,

then the solution for H is:

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The ratio of the amplitudes of E to H is called the intrinsic

impedance of the medium, .

In free space,

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Ex

Hy

H and E of a plane wave as a function of z at a fixed time

(spatial point of view: just like taking a picture using camera)
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-1

The distribution of Ex in the x-z plane (spatial point of view)

Color bar denotes the amplitude of the Ex field.
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Both E and H are wave functions with expressions like

The temporal point of view is to look at the E and H as a

function of time at a fixed spatial point.

In the following animation, the wave propagate in the +x

direction, the electric field is in red and the magnetic field is
in blue:

http://www.walter-fendt.de/html5/phen/electromagneticwave_en.htm

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4. Expressions for a general plane wave

The general expressions of a plane wave are:

E0 and H0 are vectors specifying the directions and amplitudes

of electric and magnetic fields, respectively. Note that
amplitudes are complex quantities, including both magnitudes
and phases. k is the vector propagation constant whose
magnitude is k and whose direction is the direction of
propagation of the wave. r is the observation position vector.

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Using Maxwell’s equations

it can be shown that we have the following relations

for the field vectors and the propagation direction.

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Example 1
A uniform plane wave with propagates in the +z
direction in a lossless medium with r = 4 and r = 1.
Assume that Ex is sinusoidal with a frequency of 100 MHz
and that it has a positive maximum value of 10-4 V/m at t =
0 and z = 1/8 m.
(a) Calculate the wavelength  and the phase velocity up,
and find expressions for the instantaneous electric and
magnetic field intensities.
(b) Determine the positions where Ex is a positive
maximum at the time instant t = 10-8s.

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Example 2
A uniform sinusoidal plane wave with the following expression
for the instantaneous magnetic field propagates in air:

Calculate k,  and , and find an expression for the

instantaneous electric field intensity.
Solution:
( )

𝐤⋅𝐫

1 1 1 1 1 1
𝐻 = − + = + =
15𝜋 20𝜋 𝜋 15 20 12𝜋

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𝐚 𝐚

We see

𝐤
𝐚 ( )

𝐇×𝐚

( ) ( )

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5 Power Flow and Poynting Vector

The cross product of E and H has the dimension of power
per unit area. It is called the Poynting vector, S and it
represents the power carried by the electromagnetic field
through a unit area. The direction of the Poynting vector
indicates the direction of power flow (k-direction).
Instantaneous Poynting vector:

The total power flow out of a closed surface is equal to the

depletion of the electric energy and magnetic energy inside
the surface.
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(Time) Average Poynting vector:

Can be proven mathematically
⁄
∗

The magnitude of Sav gives the average power density

(per unit area) of the EM wave.

Since

The direction of Poynting power flow is in the k-direction.

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Example 3
Compute the average power density Pav of a uniform
sinusoidal plane wave propagating in air which has the
following expression for the instantaneous magnetic field:

Solutions:
From Example 2, we obtain the phasor forms:

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Appendix: Waves and Phasor

1. Review of Complex Numbers
2. Introduction of phasor
3. Wave Propagation: Direction and Speed

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1. Review of Complex Numbers

Complex Number

Where x and y are the real (Re) and imaginary (Im) parts of z, respectively

Polar Form of z is Euler’s identity is

Where |z| and are the modulus and argument of z, respectively

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Relationship between rectangular and polar representation of a complex number

Ensure that is in the proper quadrant

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Complex Conjugate

The vector of z* and the vector of z are symmetric

about the x axis
Magnitude of z
Equality
If two complex numbers

then

or equivalently

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Addition

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Subtraction

In terms of vector:
(End point) – (Starting
point)

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Multiplication

Or

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The geometric interpretation of multiplication of complex numbers z1z2 is stretching

(or squeezing) and rotation of vectors in the plane:
If you have two complex numbers z1 and z2, you can draw a vector z1, multiply its
length by the |z2|, and rotate the resulting vector counterclockwise through the angle
Arg(z2). If | z2 | > 1, we deal with stretching. If | z2 | < 1, it is a case of squeezing.

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Division
For

Or

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Powers
For any positive integer n

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Useful Relations

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2. Introduction of phasor
Phasor analysis is a useful mathematical tool for solving problems
involving linear systems in which the excitation is a periodic function.
For example, we have learned in circuit theory for alternating current
(AC) that sinusoidal varying voltages and currents can be expressed in
phasor forms:

For example,

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More generally, any sinusoidally time-varying (a.k.a. time-

harmonic) function Z(t) can be expressed as

where

Z(t) : Real quantity, depending on time

: Complex quantity, independent of time

Tips in problem-solving:

Z(t) : the complex notation j cannot appear

: the time notation t cannot appear

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Why is phasor introduced?

In instantaneous (or time-domain) expression, the derivative with
respect to time t is rather complex.
For example,

We have to be care of the changes: sin v.s. cos, and + v.s. −

In comparison, the benefit of using the phasor form is that:

The differentiation with respect to time t can be replaced by multiplication

of the phasor form with the factor (j)n, regardless of the order n
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Note:
1. In the table, the coefficient A is real

3. By Euler’s identity, the real part of a

complex number is a cosine function. Thus,
the phasor is, by definition, automatically
cosine referenced.

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3. Wave Propagation: Direction and Speed

Consider a wave,

Define time period wavelength

The field can be written as Will be discussed in

detailed in later lectures

The corresponding phasor:

For convenience, from here onwards we drop off the ~ on the top since
the instantaneous and phasor forms can be easily distinguished.

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We take three time (t = 0, T/4, T/2) snapshots of the wave profile

Question:
What is the direction of wave propagation?

Note: The wave travels a distance of one

wavelength (

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We take three time (t = 0, T/4, T/2) snapshots of the wave profile

E ( z , 0) Question:
What is the direction of wave propagation?
z
B

E ( z , T /4)

z
B

E ( z , T /2)
Note: The wave travels a distance of one
wavelength (
z
B

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Graphically, to determine the moving direction and speed of a wave,

actually we examine a fixed point in the wave, for example, the peak,
the trough, or the zero point. The moving direction and speed of a
wave is the same as those of the chosen fixed point, regardless of what
fixed point we choose.

Mathematically, we examine a point with being

Taking differentiation on both sides, we have

[Note: left-hand side is velocity along z-direction]

The wave propagates in +z direction, with phase velocity : /k

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By the same argument, we have

[Note: left-hand side is velocity along z-direction]

The wave propagates in −z direction, with phase velocity : /k

To summarize:

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