Boundary Conditions

Case I Conductor –free space boundary:

Assuming an unbalanced charge distribution inside the conductor. The electrons get accelerated and reach the surface
of the conductor. Therefore there exists zero charge density within the conductor. This is one characteristic of
conductors. The other characteristic is that the electric field intensity within the conductor is zero.
The tangential field may be determined by applying, Free space

 E  dL  0 ΔL
a Δw b
ΔL
b c d a

 E  dL   E  dL   E  dL   E  dL  0
a b c d
d
Δw
c
E t w  E N 1
2 h  0  E N 1
2 h  0 Conductor
E t w  0
 Et  0
 D  0E
Dt   0 E t  0
Et = Dt =0
Therefore the boundary conditions of a perfect conductor are
The normal component of the field can be determined by applying,

 D  dS  Q
 D  dS   D  dS   D  dS  Q
top Bottom sides

D N s  0  D N 2h  Q
as h  0,
D N s  Q
Q
DN   s
s

D  0E
DN   0 E N   s
s
EN 
0
Therefore the second boundary condition is DN = ε0EN = ρs
Case II: Dielectric – Conductor Boundary:

Et = Dt =0 DN = εEN = ρs
Case III: Dielectric – Dielectric Boundary:
To find the tangential components:
Consider two dielectric materials with permittivities, ε1 and ε2.

  E  dL  0
b c d a

E
a
tan 1 w   E tan 1 h    E tan 2 w   E tan 2 h  0
b c d
a Δw b
 h  0, Δh Etan1
c a
Etan2
 E tan 1h   E tan 2 h  0
b d
d
Dielectric ε2
c

E tan 1 w  E tan 2 w  0
 E tan 1  E tan 2
 Dtan 1   1 E tan 1 & Dtan 2   2 E tan 2
Dtan 1 Dtan 2

1 2
Dtan 1 
 1
Dtan 2 2 Dtan 1 
Etan1  Etan 2  1 are the boundary
=> Etan is continuous but Dtan is discontinuous & Dtan 2 2 conditions

To find the normal components:

DN1
D
top
N1 s    D N 2 s 
bot
D
sides
N 2h  Q
Δs
as h  0
D N 1 s  D N 2 s  Q
Q
DN1  DN 2   s
s DN2
DN1  1 E N1 & DN 2   2 E N 2
As no free ch arg es are available in the dielectric material,
DN1  DN 2  0  DN1  DN 2  1 E N1   2 E N 2
 D N is continuous & E N is discontinuous.

& 1 E N 1   2 E N 2
Are the boundary conditions of dielectric-dielectric boundary.
DN1  DN 2