CHAPTER 4

ELECTROSTATIC BOUNDARY VALUE

PROBLEM

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• The procedure for determining the electric field E in the preceding
chapters has generally been using either Coulomb's law or Gauss's
law when the charge distribution is known.

• or using E = -W when the potential V is known throughout the region.

• In most practical situations, however, neither the charge distribution

nor the potential distribution is known.

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• In this chapter, we shall consider practical electrostatic problems
where only electrostatic conditions (charge and potential) at some
boundaries are known and it is desired to find E and V throughout the
region.

• Such problems are usually tackled using Poisson's or Laplace's

equation or the method of images, and they are usually referred to as
boundary value problems.

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 POISSON'S AND LAPLACE'S EQUATIONS
• Poisson's and Laplace's equations are easily derived from Gauss's law
(for a linear material medium) .

…..…………eq(4.1)
and
……………..eq(4.2)

Substituting eq. (4.2) into eq. (4.1) gives

.…………..eq(4.3)

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 POISSON'S AND LAPLACE'S EQUATIONS
• for an inhomogeneous medium.
• For a homogeneous medium, eq. (4.3) becomes

.…………..eq(4.4)

• This is known as Poisson's equation. A special case of this equation

occurs when v = 0 (i.e., for a charge-free region). Equation (4.4) then
becomes.
.…………..eq(4.5)
• which is known as Laplace's equation.
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• Recall that the Laplacian operator in Cartesian, cylindrical, or
spherical coordinates respectively is given by:

.……………...eq(4.6)

.……………...eq(4.7)

.…..eq(4.8)

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• depending on whether the potential is V(x, y, z), V(p, , z), or V(r, , ).
• Poisson's equation in those coordinate systems may be obtained by
simply replacing zero on the right-hand side of eqs. (4.6), (4.7), and
(4.8) with -v/.

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 GENERAL PROCEDURE FOR SOLVING POISSON'S OR LAPLACE'S EQUATION

• The following general procedure may be taken in solving a given

boundary-value problem involving Poisson's or Laplace's equation:

1. Solve Laplace's (if v = 0) or Poisson's (if v 0) equation using either (a)

direct integration when V is a function of one variable, or (b)
separation of variables if V is a function of more than one variable.
The solution at this point is not unique but expressed in terms of
unknown integration constants to be determined.

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2. Apply the boundary conditions to determine a unique solution for V.

3. Having obtained V, find E using E = - V and D from D = E.

4. If desired, find the charge Q induced on a conductor using Q =

where s = Dn and Dn is the component of D normal to the conductor.

If necessary, the capacitance between two conductors can be found

using C = Q/V.

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Eg.1. Semi-infinite conducting planes = 0 and = /6 are separated by an
infinitesimal insulating gap as in Figure 4.3. If V( =0 ) = 0 V, and If V( = ) =
100 V calculate V and E in the region between the planes.

Figure 4.1 Potential V() due to semi-infinite conducting planes.

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 RESISTANCE AND CAPACITANCE
Resistance
• If the cross section of the conductor is not uniform.

.…..eq(4.9)

• The resistance R (or conductance G = l/R) of a given conducting

material can be found by following these steps:
1. Choose a suitable coordinate system.
2. Assume Vo as the potential difference between conductor terminals.

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3. Solve Laplace's equation to obtain V. Then determine E from E = - I
from I =
4. Finally, obtain R=V0/I.
Capacitance
We define the capacitance C of the capacitor as the ratio of the
magnitude of the charge on one of the plates to the potential
difference between them; that is,

.…..eq(4.10)

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• C can be obtained for any given two-conductor capacitance by
following either of these methods:
• 1. Assuming Q and determining V in terms of Q (involving Gauss's
law).
• 2. Assuming V and determining Q in terms of V(involving solving
Laplace’s equation). We shall use the second method here.
• The former method involves taking the following steps:
1. Choose a suitable coordinate system.
2. Let the two conducting plates carry charges + Q and — Q

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 Figure 4.2 A two-conductor capacitor.
3. Determine E using Coulomb's or Gauss's law and find V from V =
The negative sign may be ignored in this case because we are interested in
the absolute value of V.
4. Finally, obtain C from C = Q/V.
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Eg.2. A metal bar of conductivity is bent to form a flat 90° sector of
inner radius a, outer radius b, and thickness t as shown in Figure 4.3.
Show that the resistance of the bar between the vertical curved
surfaces at = a and = b is

Figure 4.3 Metal bar of Example 2.

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Solution
between the vertical curved ends located at = a and = b, the bar has a
nonuniform cross section so that We have to use eq. (4.9). Let a
potential difference Vo be maintained between the curved surfaces at
= a and = b so that

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 Thus

as required.

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Eg.3. Conducting spherical shells with radii a = 10 cm and b = 30 cm are
maintained at a potential difference of 100 V such that V(r = b) = 0 and
V(r = a) = 100 V. Determine V and E in the region between the shells. If r
= 2.5 in the region, determine the total charge induced on the shells
and the capacitance of the capacitor.

Figure 4.4 Potential V(r) due to conducting spherical shells

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Solution
Consider the spherical shells shown in Figure 4.4. V depends only on r
and hence Laplace's equation becomes.

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Here we assumed Vo and found the corresponding Q to determine C.
Substituting a = 0.1 m, b = 0.3 m, Vo = 100 V yields

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 THANK YOU

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