PHYSICS 259

Final Review

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Part 1: Electricity
• Conductors and insulators
• Coulomb’s Law: force between two charged particles
• Electric field: point charges and distributions of charges
• Motion in uniform electric field: point charges and dipoles
• Field lines to visualize the field, which is the density thereof
• Gauss’ Law: relating electric flux to charge enclosed
• Calculating electric field in scenarios with high symmetry
• Electric potential energy and electric potential
• Properties of capacitors, capacitance, and dielectrics
• Microscopic description of current and of resistance
• RC circuits, (dis)charging capacitors, time constant

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Electric force vs. electric field
Electric Force Electric Field

A physical property between A physical property around

two point charges a single point charge

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Superposition
The vector represents the
magnitude and direction of the
electric field at point P. It comes
from superposition of the
individual fields from +Q and –Q.
Step 1: draw the lines connecting the
charge pairs
Step 2: draw the force vector for each
charge pair
Step 3: sum all forces to find net force
The exact same superposition principle
applies to the magnetic field at point P
due to, say, an outward current instead
of +Q is and an inward current instead
of -Q PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
E or V from a continuous charge
distribution: Coulomb’s Law
1. Split up the object into little charge elements, each casting its own
field or potential whose magnitude is the same as that of a point
charge
2. Consider the dimensionality of the space in which the charge is
distributed to write the charge element in terms of a spatial
variable and the density
3. (E ONLY) Ask whether the symmetries of the problem allow for
some simplifying cancellations
4. Sum up the (surviving) components
5. Take the continuous limit by turning the sum into an integral
6. Make sure each variable in the integral is expressed in terms of
the same spatial variable
7. Solve the integral and express the field/potential in terms of the
right variables

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

 y
y-components cancel, only
L/2 x-component matters
dQ

dE

d x
dE

dQ
–L/2

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Field lines

Field lines start on +

Electric field vectors are Field lines less dense:

tangent to field lines Field lines denser: weaker field
stronger field

–
Field lines end on –

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Reasons to use Gauss’s Law

1. To calculate the electric field in cases of high symmetry.

• Surround charge distribution with Gaussian surface that
reflects the symmetry of the E-field

2. To calculate the amount of charge contained in a Gaussian

surface
• Given the electric field and a Gaussian surface, calculate the
flux through all sides, add up, set equal to qenc/ε0

3. To calculate the total flux through some surface based on the

charge enclosed by that surface.
• Gaussian surface needn’t have any special symmetry
• Only concerned with the charge enclosed to find ΦE
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Steps for using Gauss’s Law to find E

1) Figure out the direction of the E-field from the symmetry of the
charge distribution: (spherical, cylindrical, or planar)
2) Argue where the E-field must have constant magnitude
based on the symmetry
3) Choose a Gaussian surface such that over part of it, E has
constant magnitude and points either parallel or perpendicular
to the area vector.
4) Each of the surfaces that make up the Gaussian surface either
has a flux of 0 or EA; add them to find the net flux
5) Determine the net charge enclosed by the Gaussian surface and
solve for the magnitude of E, whose direction you already know
from step 1
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Gaussian surfaces
The electric flux through a closed surface does not depend on the
shape of the surface, it only depends on the charges enclosed by
the surface.
The number of field lines
passing through the
sphere is the same as the
number of field lines
passing through the
cube.

What about the electric

field?

The electric field is the

flux density, which isn’t
the same
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Memorizable results of Gauss’s Law

Make sure you can derive these, as well as the expressions for the field
inside a sphere/cylinder

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Electric fields of conductors in electrostatics

If you zoom in
enough the surface
of the conductor
looks flat, and so
A Faraday cage is made of a
conductor, thus it shields its
contents from external electric fields

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

 Conducting shells
● An initially neutral conducting shell, thick
and hollow within
● Introducing a charge in the hollow of a
conducting shell will induce a polarization in
the two surfaces
● The charge on the inner surface may be
deduced by constructing the red Gaussian
surface, at which E=0
● An off-center charge will skew the
distribution in the inner shell but not the
outer
● The same applies if the shell had a net charge:
the charge on the inner shell is such that the
electric field in the conductor is zero, and the
charge on the outer shell is whatever remains
13
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Electric/magnetic dipole moment in a uniform E/B field

+
–

The exact same applies to magnetic dipoles in a B-field, but replace E

with B and p with μ PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Electric field vs. electric potential

For point charges or spherically symmetric

charge distributions from the outside:

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Equipotential surfaces

A
D
B
C
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Parallel-plate capacitors
Capacitors in Series: store the
same amount of charge
d

Capacitors in Parallel: have the

same voltage across them

For a linear dielectric, all the regular electrostatic equations

hold if we adjust all equations containing ε0

Equations that don’t have ε0, such as E=V/d, remain unchanged

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Charging/discharging capacitors
Charging:

Discharging:

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Electrical current

Current as flux of J Ohm’s Law J and the drift speed

Rewriting E = ∆V/L Familiar Ohm’s Law Resistance

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Part 2: Electromagnetism
• Magnetic fields, magnetic flux, and Gauss’s law for magnetism
• Magnetic forces on charges
• Cyclotron motion in magnetic fields
• Magnetic forces on charges in conductors (Hall effect)
• Magnetic forces on current-carrying wires
• Biot-Savart law (for point charge and current element)
• Magnetic field of objects using Ampère’s Law
• Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction
• Lenz’s Law for getting direction of induced emf
• Self inductance of inductors
• RL circuits, time-varying currents, time constant

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Gauss’s Law for magnetism

no enclosed
magnetic charges

The magnetic flux through any closed surface is always zero.

There is no way to isolate a north or south magnetic pole

The most elementary E-field is from a point charge, while the most
elementary B-field is from a magnetic dipole (e.g. bar magnet or
current-carrying loop)

This is true for electromagnets as well as bar magnets

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
 Cyclotron motion
● A force which is always perpendicular to the velocity
vector causes uniform circular motion; a centripetal force

● The period/frequency of circular motion in a given magnetic field is

determined by the ratio between charge and mass
● The mass spectrometer makes use of this
phenomenon to measure the mass of a particle

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Copyright @ 2014 Wiley & Sons, Inc. All rights res
The Hall Effect
Conductors are full of charges that are free to move around (yet they have to
stay confined to the conductor itself). If a conductor moves in a magnetic
field, these charges must feel a magnetic force

The Hall effect: charge builds up

at the edges. At equilibrium:

drift speed

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Force on current-carrying wires
Current in wires is nothing more than charges in
motion, regardless of whether we consider –q moving
opposite i or +q moving in the same direction as i
For a single charge:

For N charges moving through the wire

Length of wire, has same direction as i

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

The magnetic dipole moment
Source: current carrying loops , or else a bar magnet
Electrons have an intrinsic
magnetic dipole moment, a
quantum mechanical
property called spin. In a bar
magnet, these dipoles are
aligned and add together

An external magnetic field seeks to

align a magnetic dipole along it

The direction of the magnetic dipole

moment is determined by the RHR,
where the fingers curl in the direction
of the conventional current

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

A great many wires, each carrying a
current i flowing out of the page, a
are arranged on a square lattice,
such that the distance between
them is a. What’s the magnitude of
the magnetic field at point P?
Ampere’s Law
dl
We only studied Ampere’s law in the
context of magnetostatics, i.e., no
time-dependent fields
2r I

i.e.

Ampère’s Law turns out to hold for any shape

of path and any current distribution
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora 30
Applying Ampere’s Law to a current distribution

It’s good practice to always

choose a counterclockwise
amperian loop
Curl your fingers
counterclockwise with the
direction of integration,
and assign to the currents
parallel to your thumb a
positive sign, and to those
antiparallel a negative sign

If B turns out positive, the net

field is in the direction of
integration (counterclockwise) .
If B turns out negative, the net
field is opposite to the direction
of integration (clockwise). PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Steps for applying Ampere’s law to find B
Step 1: figure out the symmetry of the current distribution:
cylindrical, or planar.
Step 2: argue which direction the B-field must be pointing based on
that symmetry
Step 3: argue where the B-field must have constant magnitude
based on the symmetry
Step 4: choose an Ampèrian loop such that over part of it, B: 1) has a
constant magnitude and points in the direction of dl; or 2) B and dl
are perpendicular, giving a zero dot product; or 3) B=0
Step 5: The dot product is now trivial all along the Ampèrian loop
Step 6: determine the net current enclosed by the Ampèrian loop.
Use this to find an expression for B.

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Memorizable results of Ampere’s Law
dl

2r I
Magnetic field outside a current carrying wire,
regardless of its thickness (or lack thereof)
B
Ideal Solenoid: (Length>>diameter)

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora 33

The Biot-Savart Law
A special case of Ampere’s law

Or, for an element of current

The force between 2 parallel current-carrying wires

Parallel currents attract and

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
anti-parallel currents repel
Faraday’s Law

In the case of a uniform

magnetic field:

Not a closed
surface; if it
were, this
quantity would
always be zero
by Gauss’s law
for magnetism
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
Faraday’s law

Lenz’s Law:

The changing magnetic flux generates

an induced current which creates an
induced magnetic field which, in turn,
resists the change in magnetic flux.

In a solenoid with N turns, remember the

factor of N. For a uniform field normal to
the area (which is the case for an ideal
solenoid):

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora 37

Steps for applying Faraday’s law to find ε
1) Identify the loop of interest and choose which direction in which
the area vector points. RHR then gives + orientation for emf.
2) Calculate the magnetic flux through the loop. If B is uniform
then Φ = BAcosθ, otherwise calculate integral expression. Don’t
forget the factor of N if you have N turns of wire.
3) Determine which quantities depend on time. Write the flux in
terms of constants and functions of time.
4) Take the negative time derivative of the flux to get the emf. If
answer is positive then the induced current is in the positive
direction dictated by direction of A, and vice versa
5) Alternatively you can simply forget about the minus sign and
compute the absolute value of the induced emf, then use Lenz’s
Law to get the direction. I find this to often be the more intuitive
approach, for you don’t have to worry about carrying around the
minus signs correctly.

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

Motional emf

Because B is constant and ɸ is zero and constant

Alternatively The free charges feel a magnetic force

that causes them to redistribute:
This induces a voltage difference
(E-field), and therefore an electric
force on the charges

motional
emf: PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
RL circuits
b
L
V
R

If the switch is moved to position b, to initiate the

current flow, what happens?
Faraday’s law applies and so the change in the Magnetic Field in the
inductor L means there is a back EMF induced in L.

So in this case at t = 0, i (0) = 0. Inductor acts like a BREAK

After a long time, i = V/R Inductor acts like a WIRE

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora 41
Current in RL circuits and Energy
Current build up:

Current decay:

Energy stored in an inductor

Energy density (per unit volume)

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

The Theory of Electromagnetism
Electric and magnetic fields obey Maxwell’s equations

Gauss’s law Electric charge creates electric fields

Magnetic charge creates

Gauss’s law for magnetism magnetic fields, only it
doesn’t exist
Electric fields that change with
Ampere’s law time (or currents) create
magnetic fields
Faraday’s law Magnetic fields that change with time
create electric fields (induced emf)

The energy stored in EM fields:

A charge in an electromagnetic field will experience a Lorentz force

44
PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora
General strategies and tips
• Go through my slides and the video lecture notes if you
prefer a compact resource, and the book if you wish to
go into the details
• Go through the formula sheet and make sure you know
where each formula comes from, when it applies, and
how to use it.
• Go through the activities/midterm/previous finals and
identify your weakest areas to focus on them, perhaps
by reading the relevant book section.
• Solve as many practice problems as you can. A passive
reading of the book/notes won’t suffice.
• Get lots of sleep, try to get some exercise, eat properly,
relax.

PHYS 259 - Dr. Y. Kora

The four horsemen of electromagnetism do wish you good luck!

Carl Friedrich Gauss André-Marie Ampère

Michael Faraday James Clerk Maxwell