EEE3352-ELECTROMECHANICS

AND MACHINES
LECTURE 2
Continuous Charge Distributions
 Continuous Symmetric Charge
Distributions
• We shall now calculate the electric potential
difference between two points in space associated
with a continuous symmetric distribution of charge
in which we can first use Gauss’s Law to determine
the electric field everywhere is space.
• Example: Consider a metallic spherical shell of radius
a and charge Q, as shown in Figure 1 below.

Figure 1 A spherical shell of

radius a and charge Q.
(a) Find the electric potential everywhere.
(b) Calculate the potential energy of the system.
Solution:
(a) We stated previously that the electric field for a
spherical shell is given by
 Q ˆ
  2
r, r  a
E   4 0 r
0, ra

The electric potential may be calculated by using
For r > a, we have
Q
r 1 Q Q
V ( r )  V ( )    dr   k e
 4 r 2 4 r r
0 0

where we have chosen V (∞) = 0 as our

reference point. On the other hand, for r < a,
the potential becomes

A plot of the electric potential is shown in Figure 2

below. Note that the potential V is constant inside a
conductor.
 Figure 2 Electric potential as a
function of r for a spherical
conducting shell

(b) The potential energy U can be thought of as the work

that needs to be done to build up the system. To charge
up the sphere, an external agent must bring charge from
infinity and deposit it onto the surface of the sphere.
Suppose the charge accumulated on the sphere at some
instant is q. The potential at the surface of the sphere is
then V = q / 4πε0a . The amount of work that must be
done by an external agent to bring charge dq from
infinity and deposit it on the sphere is
• Therefore, the total amount of work needed to charge
the sphere to Q is
Q q Q2
Wext   dq 
0 4 0 a 8 0 a
• Because V = Q / 4πε0a and Wext =U , the above
expression simplifies to U = (1/ 2)QV .
• The result can be contrasted with the case of a point
charge. The work required to bring a point charge Q
from infinity to a point where the electric potential
due to other charges is V is Wext = QV. Therefore, for a
point charge Q, the potential energy is U = QV.
 Continuous Non-Symmetric Charge
Distributions
• If the charge distribution is continuous, the potential
at a point P can be found by summing over the
contributions from individual differential elements of
charge dq .

Figure 3 Continuous
charge distribution
• Consider the charge distribution shown in Figure 3.
Taking infinity as our reference point with zero
potential, the electric potential at P due to dq is
1 dq
dV 
4 0 r

• Summing over contributions from all the differential

elements, we have that
1 dq
4 0  r
V

• The above approach can be applied to objects like,

uniformly charged rod, ring, annulus, and disk.
 ELECTROSTATIC FIELDS 120h
• The space around energized high voltage
components is occupied by an electric field.
• The magnitude of these fields influences the
behaviour of the insulation.
• It is therefore, important to be able to estimate the
electric field strength.
• This is obtained from Coulomb’s law as:
q1
E 2
4r
• The expression defines the electric field at a point in
space distance r from an originating charge.
 Note that the force on charge q2 is given by F=q2E in
the same way as the gravitational force on mass m in a
gravitation field g is given as mg.

ELECTROMAGNETIC FIELD

Electric Field Magnetism

Static(Insulator) Conductor (Conduction)

• Electric fields are caused by the voltage difference
between electrodes while magnetic fields are caused
by currents flowing in conductors.
• Also, a time-varying electric field is accompanied by a
magnetic field and vice versa, forming an
electromagnetic field.
• This interaction prevails at higher frequencies and
can be used to explain the propagation of travelling
waves along transmission lines.
 Electric Flux
• Electric flux and charge are related through the
Gauss’ law which states that if a closed surface
completely surrounds a charge or system of charges,
the total flux crossing this surface is equal to the
magnitude of the charge enclosed.
• Flux density is the flux per unit normal area at a point
in space. The symbol is D and unit C/m2. Note:
D  E which is valid at any point in a
,an expression
homogenous medium of permittivity whatever 
the source of flux.
• The directions of the flux density and of the electric
field are the same.
 Example 2.1
• Determine the electric flux density distance r from an
infinity line charge of q per unit length. Use this result
to calculate the electric field strength in air 5 mm from
a line charge of 16 pC/m.  0  8.85 1012 F / m
SOLUTION:
Total charge  ql
ql q
D 
2rl 2r
D  E
D q
E 
 2r 0
16  10 -12
 -3 -12
 57.5 V/m
2  5 10  8.85 10
 Electrical Conduction
• Current I or i is the flow of electric charge, i.e.
dq
i
dt
• If current is distributed uniformly through out the
cross-section A of a wire, the current density J is
uniform, and is given by the total current divided by
the cross-sectional area, i.e.
I dI
J  or J 
A dA
 Electric Field Strength and
Potential
• Consider a small imaginary cylindrical cell of length l
and cross-section A, with J normal at a point of
consideration in the cell.
l

A v
• Let V be the potential difference between the ends of
the cell.
• Applying Ohm’s law: V I
E and J 
l A
• Note: V  IR
But V  El and I  JA
Leading to El  JAR

l l
• Thus; J E  E , where   is the conductivity of
AR AR

the material.
• The reciprocal of conductivity is resistivity given by:
1AR
  
 l
l
Note that resistance R is given as: R  
A
 MAGNETOSTATICS
• A magnetic field is that region in which a charged
particle in motion or a magnetic material is acted
upon by a magnetic force.
• Magnetic lines of force;
 Have direction
 Form complete loops
 Represent a tension about their lengths which tends
to make them as short as possible
 Repel one another
 Cannot intercept but must always form an individual
loop.
Magnetic field lines of a conductor above ground

Magnetic Flux,
This is the total number of the lines of force in the
magnetic field, unit is weber [wb]. 1 wb=108 lines of
magnetic force.
 Magnetic Flux Density, B
• This is the magnetic flux per unit area, unit is Tesla,
T: d 
B or in a uniform field , B  [T ]
dA A

• Magnetomotive force, mmf or F: Magnetic flux is

caused by a mmf, just as current in a conductor is
caused by an emf.
• If a coil of N turns carrying a current I is used as the
source of mmf, then.
F  mmf  NI
 Magnetic Field Strength or
Magnetic Field Intensity, H
• H is defined as the mmf per unit length, given as
follows: F
H , the unit is [ A / m]
l
• Magnetic flux density is related to the magnetic field
intensity H by:
B  H ,    r 0 , where  is permeability of the medium,
 r is relative permeability and 0 is permeability of free
space  4  10 7 [ H / m]
 HEALTH EFFECTS
• From time to time magazine or newspaper articles
appear on possible health effects to people that live
near transmission lines or high voltage workers.
• The 50 Hz electric and magnetic field limits set by
ICNIRP are shown in the table below:
Maximum allowed field strength levels
EXPOSURE E-FIELD H-FIELD [uT]
[kV/m]
OCCUPATIONAL 10 500
PUBLIC 5 100
• These limits are for 50/60 Hz time varying fields.
• The electric and magnetic field effects of DC lines on humans
are much less, but adherence to the above limits is advisable.
 ELECTRICAL PROPERTIES OF
MATTER AND SPACE
• CAPACITANCE, C: This is a property of matter and
space whereby electric charge q is accumulated
when a potential difference, V, is applied to it. Thus:
q
C [F ]
V

• C ONDUCTANCE, G: This is a property of matter

I
whereby electricV current flows when a p.d. is applied
G  [S ]

to it. Thus:
• The reciprocal of conductance
R
V
[] is resistance, given as:
I
• PERMEANCE,  : This is the property of matter
whereby a magnetic flux is established when a
magnetomotive force is applied to it, given as follows:

  [ H ] or [ wb / At ]
F
• In special type of matter such as conductors,
inductance L is used to describe permeance.
Inductance is the ability of a conductor to have a
voltage induced when the current varies.
• In this case, if the total flux linkage  , causes a
current I, to be induced in a conductor, then

inductance L is given as: I [H ] .
L 

• The reciprocal of permeance is Reluctance, S, given as

F
follows: S 

[ A / wb]
 LUMPED AND FIELD QUANTITIES
• Consider the following relationships:
FLOW material POTENTIAL
DENSITY property GRADIENT

d d
dA  dA dl  dl
material
property POTENTIAL
FLOW
& DIFFERENCE
geometry
• Flow density and potential gradient are local
quantities (i.e. Field quantities).
• Flow and potential difference are the total or lumped
quantities.
Electrostatics
 [ F / m]

D 
D (C/m2) E (V/m)

d d
dA  dA dl  dl
C [F ]
Q (C) V (V) E
Uniform field (space)
 Electrical conduction
 [ S / m]
J (A/m2) E (V/m)
J

d d
dA  dA dl  dl
G [S ] E
V (V)
I (A) Uniform field
Magnetostatics
 [ H / m]
B
B H (A/m)
(Wb/m2) 
d d
 dA dl  dl
dA
H
 [H ] Uniform field
 φ F (At)
(Wb)
 Mechanical system
Stress E Strain

d
F k
d
dA  dA dl  dl
Elongation
Force
k Elongation
• Analogy Btn Electrostatic & Conduction Fields:
ELECTROSTATIC FIELD CONDUCTION FIELD
VOLTAGE DIFFERENCE, V, VOLTAGE DIFFERENCE, V,
VOLT VOLT
CHARGE, Q, COULOMB CURRENT, I, A
STRESS, E, V/m STRESS, E, V/m
CAPACITANCE, C,
 FARAD
  CONDUCTANCE, G,
 SIEMENS
1
r 0 
PERMITTIVITY, , F/m CONDUCTIVITY, , S/m
 SAFETY AND ELECTROSTATIC
HAZARDS
• The early Greeks, 600 BC, noticed that amber, when
rubbed, could attract light objects.
• They were responsible for the term “electricity”
derived from their word for amber.
• They spent many hours rubbing a small piece of
amber on their sleeves and observing how it would
then attract pieces of fluff and stuff.
• Static electricity affects many industries and diverse
environments.
• The results of static charge build up are quite
noticeable, e.g., lightning.
• These results include potentially dangerous electrical
shocks which can cause decreases in productivity,
machinery jams, fires, and explosions.
• Static electricity can also cause severe damage to
sensitive electronic components, requiring costly
repair.
NATURE OF STATIC ELECTRICITY
• Static electricity is an electrical charge at rest, it is
generated by unbalancing the molecular construction
of relatively nonconductive insulators such as plastic
and paper.
• To understand what static electricity is, we have to
learn a little bit about the nature of matter.
• The majority of electrostatic charges are caused by
two different materials being rubbed together.
• Static electricity can also be generated by friction,
pressure, and separation.
• Friction causes heat which excites the molecular
particles of the material.
• When two materials are separated, a transfer of
electrons from one material to the other may take
place.
• As electrons transfer, the absence or surplus of
electrons creates an electric field.
• Static electricity can also be generated by rupture of
the molecular structure caused by cutting, slitting,
and tearing.
• It can also be generated by rapid temperature change,
radioactive emission, and chemical changes in a
material.
• These processes give rise to imbalance between
positive and negative ions on the surface of the
material.
• Lightning is a manifestation of static electricity.
Masses of air rise and fall during thunderstorms. They
rub against rain clouds, which causes them to become
electrically charged. Lightning occurs when objects of
different charges get close to each other.
• The amount of static electricity generated depends
upon the materials subjected to friction or separation,
the amount of friction or separation, and the relative
humidity of the environment.
 Man’s Common Activities and the
Voltages Generated
Electrostatic Voltage [kV]
Means of Generation Relative Humidity
10% 40% 55%

Person Walking across a carpet 35 15 7.5

Person Walking across a Vinyl tile 12 5 0.3
Worker at a Bench 6 0.5 0.4
Ceramic Dips in Plastic Tube 2 0.7 0.4
Ceramic Dips in Styrofoam 14.5 5 3.5
Circuit Packs as Bubble Plastic Cover is Removed 26 20 7
 Electrostatic Discharges (ESD)
• ESD is the transfer of charge between bodies at
different electrical potentials.
• It arises when a static charge accumulates on a
nonconducting object and then finds a path to ground.
• Once a person is charged, and depending on the
relative humidity, a discharge will occur if the person
touches a surface at a lower potential.
• There are many industries and commercial operations
where electrostatic phenomena are either exploited to
achieve useful ends or dealt with as a nuisance or
hazard to be avoided.
 Hazards of Electrostatic Electricity
in Industry
• Some industries are very sensitive to ESD even
at a few hundred volts, such as the petroleum
and chemical industries.
• Other industries and activities such as textile,
fertilizer, paper, rubber, wheat flour, grain
transportation, hospitals, etc, suffer from ESD
and strict measures should be taken to
eliminate, or reduce to an acceptable level, the
accumulation of static charges.
 Grain Transportation
• Grain such as wheat is transported by either pipes or conveyor
belts.
• When transported by pipe, the relative motion of the grain to
the pipe walls causes friction and hence electrostatic charges
are generated on the grain.
• As the grain continues to flow along the pipe it acquires more
and more charges.
• The amount of charge acquired by the grain particles depends
on their flow speed, surface area, and charge leakage.
• If the charge builds up on the grain particles such that the
electric field between them and the pipe walls exceeds the
withstand flashover voltage of the ambient, a spark will
develop.
• This spark may lead to explosion of the transportation system
and injuries to nearby personnel.
• Conveyor belts are also used in grain industries such
as grain elevators.
• In these industries the atmospheric air is
contaminated with fine dust particles which are
highly explosive when subjected to ESD of sufficient
energy.
• ESD can start from the conveyor belt itself as a result
of friction between the belt and grain particles.
• Or ESD can start from the workers walking around
and generating electrostatic charges by friction with
the floor.
• Under some favorable conditions the charge
accumulated on a worker is enough to initiate a
spark when touching a metallic casing or machine.
 Chemical Industries
• Chemical industry facilities such as fertilizer factories
suffer from fires and explosions due to static charges
unless they are properly protected.
• The final chemical product usually passes through
several industrial processes: crushing, grinding,
pulverizing, mixing, and belt or pipe transportation.
• Many of the elements of the chemical products are
volatile and flammable.
• Also, tiny dust particles possess static charges and
their accumulation on metallic parts may cause ESD.
• In some cases, in dry atmosphere, minute sparks may
occur between the particles themselves, leading to
explosion or fire.
• In some industries humidification of the ambient may
be a solution to reduction of static charges, but in
most chemical processes increased humidity has an
adverse effect on the quality of the product.
• In chemical industries strict measures should be taken
to avoid ESD. Among these measures are bonding and
earthing of all metal parts, cleaning the accumulated
dust by vacuum cleaner rather than blowing as this
aggravates the problem.
• Blowing air at high speed at the dust particles
increases the static charges on the particles and metal
surfaces.
• Covering the floor with antistatic material is an
additional protective measure.
 HAZARDS FROM ELECTRICAL
EQUIPMENT AND INSTALLATIONS
STATIC CHARGES IN POWER TRANSFORMER
• Transformers are major elements in power plants and
the possibility of their damage and outage is of
paramount concern for continuity of supply and
avoidance of long repair and maintenance times.
• Large power transformers are cooled by pumping
away hot oil at the top of the tank, through pipes to
radiators, and then back to the tank.
• During oil flow, the oil generates static charges by
friction with iron core, pipes, and radiator. Under
some conditions sparks may develop inside or outside
the transformer.
• If these sparks occur frequently, damage and
degradation of the winding and oil will occur, leading
to transformer outage.
• To reduce static charge accumulation in transformers
and the cooling system, good earthing of core, tank,
and piping system is a major factor.
HAZARDS FROM HV POWER LINES
• Farmers, animals, plants, pipelines, fences, and
vehicles are subjected to various effects in the vicinity
of power lines.
• These effects could result from capacitive, inductive,
and conductive coupling between the power line and
other objects.
 Assignment 2
1. Discuss and give reasons for the following:
(a) Cotton clothes and bed sheets are used in operation
theaters rather than synthetic fabrics.
(b) In grain grinding factories it is not recommended to clean
objects from accumulated dust particles by air blowing.
(c) Conductive oil dressings are used with belt conveyors.
(d) Rubber hoses for filling petrol tanks have embedded metal
wires.
(e) Filling petrol tanks at the top at high speed is dangerous.
(h) Loose hair of women’s workers in some industries may
lead to accidents.
(i) Sparks between the rotor and stator may develop in
induction motors used for belt drives.
2. Find the force on a 100 µC charge at (0,0,3) m if four like
charges of 20 µC are located on the x and y axes at ±4.
3. (a) Give a table that shows an analogy between components
in electrostatic and magnetostatic fields.
(b) Draw and clearly label a block diagram that connects the
lumped and field quantities in 3 (a) above.
(c) Sketch a curve that shows how any two quantities in 3 (a)
vary with each other.

THE END
Note: Assignment is due in a week’s time