2).

Gauss Law and Applications

Coulombs Law: force on charge i due to
charge j is





F
ij
is force on i due to presence of j and
acts along line of centres r
ij
. If q
i
q
j
are
same sign then repulsive force is in
direction shown

Inverse square law of force
( )

j i
j i
ij j i ij j i ij
ij
2
ij
j i
o
j i
3
j i
j i
o
ij
r
r
q q
4
1
q q
4
1
r r
r r
r r r r r r
r r r
r r
F

= = =
=

=
tc tc
O
r
i
r
j
r
i
-r
j
q
i
q
j
F
ij
Principle of Superposition
Total force on one charge i is



i.e. linear superposition of forces due to all other charges

Test charge: one which does not influence other real
charges samples the electric field, potential
Electric field experienced by a test charge q
i
ar r
i
is

=
=
i j
ij
2
ij
j
o
i i
r
q
4
1
q r F

tc
( )

=
= =
i j
ij
2
ij
j
o i
i
i i
r
q
4
1
q
r
F
r E

tc
Electric Field
Field lines give local direction of field

Field around positive charge directed
away from charge

Field around negative charge directed
towards charge


Principle of superposition used for field
due to a dipole (+ve ve charge
combination). Which is which?
q
j
+ve
q
j
-ve
Flux of a Vector Field
Normal component of vector field transports fluid across
element of surface area

Define surface area element as dS = da
1
x da
2


Magnitude of normal component of vector field V is
V.dS = |V||dS| cos(+)

For current density j
flux through surface S is
Cm
2
s
-1

da
1
da
2
dS

dS = da
1
x da
2

|dS| = |da
1
| |da
2
|sin(t/2)
+
dS`
}
S surface closed
.dS j
Electric field is vector field (c.f. fluid velocity x density)
Element of flux of electric field over closed surface E.dS








da
1
da
2
n
u
|
Flux of Electric Field

n
n a a S
a
a
x
d d sin r d x d d
d sin r d
d r d
2
2 1
2
1
=
= =
=
=
o
o o
2
2
o
q
.d
d
4
q
d d sin
4
q

1 d d sin r .
r 4
q
.d
c
tc

tc

tc
}
=
O = =
= =
S
S E
n . r n
r
S E

Gauss Law Integral Form

Factors of r
2
(area element) and 1/r
2
(inverse square law)
cancel in element of flux E.dS
E.dS depends only on solid angle dO









da
1
da
2
n
u
|
Integral form of Gauss Law
o
i
i
o
2 1
q
.d
d
4
q q
.d
c
tc

}
=
O
+
=
S
S E
S E
Point charges: q
i
enclosed by S
q
1
q
2
v within charge total )d (
)dv (
.d
V
o
V
=
=
}
}
}
v r
r
S E

S
Charge distribution (r) enclosed by S
Differential form of Gauss Law
Integral form

Divergence theorem applied to field V, volume v bounded by
surface S



Divergence theorem applied to electric field E
} } }
V = =
V
S S
dv . d dS . V S V. n V
V.n dS
.V dv
o
V
)d (
.d
c

}
}
=
r r
S E
S
} }
} }
= V
V =
V V
V
)dv (
1
dv .
dv . d
r E
E S E.

c
o
S
o
c
) (
) ( .
r
r E = V
Differential form of Gauss Law
(Poissons Equation)
Apply Gauss Law to charge sheet
(C m
-3
) is the 3D charge density, many applications make
use of the 2D density o (C m
-2
):

Uniform sheet of charge density o = Q/A
By symmetry, E is perp. to sheet
Same everywhere, outwards on both sides
Surface: cylinder sides + faces
perp. to sheet, end faces of area dA
Only end faces contribute to integral




+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
+ + + + + +
E
E
dA
o o o
c
o
c
o
c 2
= = =
}
E S E.
S
.dA
E.2dA
Q
d
encl
o = Q/2A surface charge density Cm
-2
(c.f. Q/A for sheet)
E 2dA = o dA/c
o

E = o/2c
o
(outside left surface shown)

Apply Gauss Law to charged plate
+


+


+


+


+


+

+


+


+


+


+


+

+


+


+


+


+


+

+


+


+


+


+


+

E
dA
E = 0 (inside metal plate)
why??

+





+





+





+

+





+





+





+

Outside E = o/2c
o
+ o/2c
o
= o/c
o
= o/2c
o

Inside fields from opposite faces cancel
Work of moving charge in E field
F
Coulomb
=qE
Work done on test charge dW
dW = F
applied
.dl = -F
Coulomb
.dl = -qE.dl = -qEdl cos u
dl cos u = dr










W is independent of the path (E is conservative field)

A
B
q
1

q
r
r
1
r
2
E
dl
u
}
}
=
|
.
|

\
|
=
=
=
B
A
2 1
o
1
r
r
2
o
1
2
o
1
.d q
r
1
r
1
4
q
q
dr
r
1
4
q
q W
dr
r
1
4
q
q dW
2
1
l E
tc
tc
tc

0 =
}
path closed any
l E.d
Potential energy function
Path independence of W leads to potential and potential
energy functions

Introduce electrostatic potential

Work done on going from A to B = electrostatic potential
energy difference

Zero of potential energy is arbitrary
choose |(r) as zero of energy
r
1
4
q
) (
o
1
tc
| = r
( )
}
=
= =
B
A
BA
.d q
) ( - ) ( q ) PE( - ) PE( W
l E
A B A B | |
Electrostatic potential
Work done on test charge moving from A to B when charge
q
1
is at the origin

Change in potential due to charge q
1
a distance of r
B
from B



( )
B o
1
r
2
o
1
B
r
1
4
q
) (
dr
r
1
4
q
.d
- ) ( ) ( - ) (
B
tc
|
tc
| | |
=
=
=
=
}
}

B
l E
B A B


0
( ) ) ( - ) ( q ) PE( - ) PE( W
BA
A B A B | | = =
Electric field from electrostatic potential
Electric field created by q
1
at r = r
B


Electric potential created by q
1
at r
B


Gradient of electric potential

Electric field is therefore E= |
3
o
1
r 4
q r
E
tc
=
r
1
4
q
r
o
1
B
tc
| = ) (
3
o
1
B
r 4
q
r
r
tc
| = V ) (
Electrostatic energy of charges
In vacuum
Potential energy of a pair of point charges
Potential energy of a group of point charges
Potential energy of a charge distribution

In a dielectric (later)
Potential energy of free charges


Electrostatic energy of point charges
Work to bring charge q
2
to r
2
from when q
1
is at r
1
W
2
= q
2
|
2








NB q
2
|
2
=

q
1
|
1
(Could equally well bring charge q
1
from )
Work to bring charge q
3
to r
3
from when q
1
is at r
1
and q
2
is
at r
2
W
3
= q
3
|
3

Total potential energy of 3 charges = W
2
+ W
3

In general



O
q
1
q
2
r
1
r
2
r
12
12 o
1
2
r
1 q
tc

4
=
O
q
1
q
2
r
1
r
2
r
12
r
3
r
13
r
23
23 o
2
13 o
1
3
r
1 q
r
1 q
tc tc

4 4
+ =

= <
= =
j i j
ij
j
i
j i j
ij
j
i
r
q
q
1
2
1
r
q
q
1
W
o o
tc tc 4 4
Electrostatic energy of charge
distribution
For a continuous distribution
} }
}
}

=
=
space all space all
o
space all
o
space all
) (
d ) ( d
4
1
2
1
W
) (
d
4
1
) (
) ( ) ( d
2
1
W
r' r
r'
r' r r
r' r
r'
r' r
r r r

tc

tc
|
|
Energy in vacuum in terms of E
Gauss law relates to electric field and potential
Replace in energy expression using Gauss law








Expand integrand using identity:
V.F = V.F + F.V
Exercise: write = | and F = V| to show:
} }
V = =
V = = V
V = = V
v
2
o
v
2
o
o
2
o
dv
2
dv
2
1
W

and .
| |
c
|
| c
c

|
|
c

E E
( )
( )
2
2
2
2
.
.
| | | | |
| | | | |
V V V = V
V + V = V V
Energy in vacuum in terms of E
For pair of point charges, contribution of surface term
1/r -1/r
2
dA r
2
overall -1/r

Let r and only the volume term is non-zero



Energy density
( )
( ) ( ) ( )
theorem) e (Divergenc integral volume replaces integral Surface
identity first s Green' dv .d
2
dv dv .
2
W
v
2
o
v
2
v
o
(

V V =
(

V V V =
} }
} }
| | |
c
| | |
c
S
S
( )
} }
= V =
space all
2
o
space all
2
o
dv E
2
dv
2
W
c
|
c
) ( E
2 dv
dW
) (
2
o
E
r r
c
= =