The Web site for this course: http://www.physics.rutgers.

edu/ugrad/227/
Lecturer: Prof. Michael Gershenson (lectures, website, iclickers)
Office: Serin 122W. E-mail: gersh@physics.rutgers.edu.
Office phone: 732-445-5500 x 3180.
Office hours: Mondays 3:30pm 4:30pm, Serin 122W

Course administrator: Prof. Jolie Cizewski (Mastering Physics, exams,
makeups, grades, disability)

TAs: Professors: Harry Kojima and Valery Kiryukhin
Grad. students: Aniket Patra, Meng Ye, TBA
Welcome to 227 ELECTROMAGNETISM
1
The last-year lectures have been uploaded on our Web page. Some
corrections/comments will be added after each lecture, and the finalized slides will be
posted on the Web after each lecture.

I encourage you to look through the lectures and the relevant paragraphs from the
textbook in advance, before the lecture. This will help you
- to get used to new ideas;
- to check out if the math involved is familiar to you;
- to prepare your questions on the most difficult issues.

It is also helpful to go over lecture notes in the evening after the lecture - you will
retain much more information than by doing the same thing next day. Thats how our
brain works!
2
Lectures
Homeworks: one learns most of physics by solving problems, so please take the
homework seriously. According to Sophocles,
One must learn by doing the things;
For though you think you know it,
You have no certainty until you try.

Again, try to do your homework in the evening after the lecture: because of our
memorization process, it will takes much less time and efforts.

If you are observing religious holidays, please complete your MasteringPhysics
homework in advance (the deadline is the same for all the students).

Please DO NOT e-mail me questions related to MasteringPhysics ! If you have problems
with MasteringPhysics, you can either (a) come to my office hour (3:30-4:30 PM today,
R122 Serin) and well discuss the problem, or (b) e-mail your question to the course
administrator (Prof. Jolie Cizewski, cizewski@physics.rutgers.edu) who is in charge of
MasteringPhysics.
3
Homeworks
4
The main idea: to provide a discussion forum for student-to-student interaction and
learning.

When students post on Piazza, everyone benefits. Students like knowing that others
have the same question, and when it's answered on Piazza, it's answered for
everybody.

https://piazza.com/

Piazza is a free online gathering place where students can ask,
answer, and explore 24/7, under the guidance of their instructors.
Piazza Ask. Answer. Explore. Whenever.
5
Iclickers
During each lecture (except the first one), 3-4 iclicker questions will be asked. Your
correct answers will be count as an extra credit (extra 2% on top of 100%) towards
your course grade. Please register your Iclicker as soon as possible.
As part of the pre-testing process in your physics course you are assigned to complete
an online survey that will take ~15 minutes to complete. You are expected to take the
survey now, and then again at the end of the semester in order to receive credit for
having completed the Pre- and Post-testing requirements in this course.

Completing the surveys will help your grade, not completing them will hurt your
grade. The study leaders will be the only people with access to your answers; as your
instructors we will receive information only as to whether or not you have taken the
survey.

The link to the survey is below, and the deadline is Friday September 13th at midnight.
https://secure.rutgers.edu/secureforms/Login.aspx?ID=Physics_Survey
Pre- and post-testing
Lecture 1. Electric Charge, Coulombs Law,
Superposition Principle
Outline:

About this course
Intro to Electromagnetic Phenomena
Electric Charge
Coulomb Law
Superposition Principle
Example: the force by an electric dipole
Electrostatics
6
Four Fundamental Interactions
present
Strong
Electromag.
Weak
Gravitational
Big Bang
7
Electromagnetic Interactions: Timeline
1830 1861 1887 1950-60
Quantum
Electrodynamics
Feynman,
Schwinger,
Tomonaga
Electro-
magnetic
Waves
Hertz
Maxwell
Equations
Maxwell
Feynman: It (the Faradays discovery which
finally resulted in Maxwell equations)
transformed the rather dull subject of static
fields into a very exciting dynamic subject
with an enormous range of wonderful
phenomena.
Faradays discovery stimulated the Second
Unification in physics that united electricity,
magnetism, and optics.
Electromagnetic
Induction
Faraday, Henry
Classical Physics Quantum Physics
Interactions
mediated by
classical el.-mag.
fields
Particle-particle
interactions
mediated by
exchange of
photons
E.M. 227
8
1905
Special Theory
of Relativity
Einstein
Electromagnetic Phenomena
Classical approach (based on Maxwell Eqs.) is adequate for describing many of them.

Limitations of the classical approach: interaction of the electromagnetic field with matter.
Enormous range of electromagnetic phenomena:
9
Structure of the Course
Electromagnetism

E - electric fields
B magnetic fields
Q charges
I currents
- fluxes
0
Electric fields
generated by
charges at rest
Magnetic fields
generated by
time-independent
currents
Ch. 21 - 26
Ch. 27 - 28
Ch. 32

10
El.-mag. fields generated by
alternating currents
Electrodynamics
Electro
Magneto
statics
Electromagnetic Waves
Ch. 29 - 31

=
Electric Charge
Its a scalar (remains the same in all ref. frames). Charge comes in two types
positive and negative.
Its quantized its allowed to be integer multiples of e (the elementary charge).
The net charge of any isolated system is conserved (this, of course, doesnt mean
that the number of particles is conserved). The net charge of the Universe = 0.
Because the net charge of the Universe is zero, its macroscopic structure is shaped
by gravitation, not by electromagnetic interactions.
e = 1.602176565(35)10
19
C
Unit of charge: Coulomb

1 C = 110
6
C

1 nC = 110
9
C


Robert A. Millikan
(1868 - 1953)
Nobel 1923
Oil drop experiment 1909
Harvey Fletcher
(1884 - 1981)
11
e 1.610
19
C
Electric charge is a physical quantity that characterizes how charged objects participate
in electrostatic interactions. Electric charge properties:
=
1
4
0

0
9 10
12

2
/
2

1
4
0
9 10
9

2
/
2
10
10

2
/
2

This formulation suggests instantaneous interaction
("spooky action at a distance Einstein).
Thus, this law must be modified in electrodynamics .
Coulombs Law
The force of interaction between two point charges at rest in
vacuum is directed along the line connecting the charges, it
is proportional to the charges q
1
and q
2
and inversely
proportional to the distance between the charges squared.
Modern tests of Coulombs Law and the photon rest mass:
Validity of Coulomb's law
implies that the photons
mass is zero.
12
How strong?
13
Electromagnetic interaction is billion-....- billion times
stronger than the gravitational one. Why do we usually
ignore it? Because the matter around us is mostly
uncharged (almost perfect balance of positive and
negative charges).
To appreciate the strength of electric forces, lets calculate the force of repulsion
between two persons with 10
-9
of their electrons being removed:
# of H
2
O molecules 18 = 6 10
28

Avogadro # moles = 6 10
23

100
18

= 3.3 10
27

# of electrons:
# of H
2
O molecules:
charge (10
-9
electrons removed): = 6 10
19
1.6 10
19
10
force: =
1
4
0

2
10
10

2
/
2
10 10
1
2
10
12

- strong enough to lift a 500m 500m 500m lead cube !

12
=
1
4
0

2

1
2

2

1

2

1

Coulombs Law in the vector form
unit vector along
2

1

If one of the charges is at the origin (r
1
=0):

12
=
1
4
0

2
2

2

2
=
1
4
0

force on q
2
by q
1

Most often well be using Coulomb's law in the coordinate form:
=
1
4
0

2

1
2
+
2

1
2

14
origin

2

1

12

21

1

2

12

21

21
=?
Example
15

2
9 10
9
5 10
12
9
= 0.005
=

2
+

2
0.007

= 0.005 0.005
Problem Solving Steps
1. Write down what is given and what is to be
found (introduce notations).
Given: ....
Find: ...
2. Draw a nice sketch (force diagram) and introduce the coordinate system.
3. Analyze the problem:

- identify concepts (and symmetries);
- transform concepts into equations;
- solve the system of equations;
- analyze the limiting cases, check if the answer makes sense.
4. Plug in numbers.
16
Foundations of Electrostatics: Coulombs Law and Superposition Principle.
Superposition Principle
Superposition Principle: Interaction between any two charges is
completely unaffected by the presence of the other charges.

Point charges summation, continuous charge distribution integration.
The Main Problem of Electrostatics:
The charge distribution is given (charges at rest).

Find the the force on a probe charge everywhere (or the electric field everywhere).
17
Maxwell Equations are linear differential
equations; they have solutions which can be added
together to form other solutions. This is a
reflection of the fact that photons do not interact
with each other.
One of the consequences: light sabers (Star Wars)
dont work as intended .
Electric dipole
An electric dipole is formed by two charges +q and q at the distance d apart. Find the
force on a probe charge +q
p
which is placed at a distance r from the middle of the
dipole along the line perpendicular to the dipole axis.
Step 1: nice sketch and notations
Step 2: Given: q, q
p
, d, r.
Find: F
net

++
=
++
=
1
4
0

2
+ /2
2
=
1
4
0

2
+ /2
2
/2

2
+ /2
2

1
4
0

=
++
+
+
=
1
4
0

2
+ /2
2 3/2

Step 4: analyze the answer
at r >> d, the force decreases with distance faster than
that for a point charge. This makes sense because the net
charge of the dipole is 0.
Step 3: analyze the problem
Concepts: Coulombs law and superposition principle.
+q
p +q
p
+q

-q

++

d/2
d/2
r

++
+

+

Symmetry: horizontal components of F
1
and F
2
compensate
each other, we need to consider only vertical components.
- the unit vector along
18
19
The answer is YES
unless we consider point-like elementary particles with no internal structure
(example: neutrino).
Examples of neutral objects participating in el.-mag. interactions:

- All macro objects (e.g., they can be polarized);

- Neutral atoms (e.g., they can be polarized, excited by photons);

- Neutrons (composite particles, contain three charged quarks)

- Etc.

Can neutral (uncharged) objects participate in el.-mag. interactions?
Conclusion
Electrostatics: Coulombs Law + Superposition Principle
The Main Problem of Electrostatics
20
Next time: Lecture 2. Electric Field. Dipoles. 21.4 21.7.
The charge distribution is given (charges at rest).

Find the the force on a probe charge everywhere (or the electric field everywhere).