ELECTRICITY &

MAGNETISM

Reference Book:
 Physics Part-II Resnick & Halliday
 Electricity & Magnetism K K Tewari
 Electricity & Magnetism A K Rafiqullah
 Electric Potential from the Field

Potential energy of a charged particle in an electric

field depends on the magnitude of charge. The
potential energy per unit charge at a point in an
electric field is called electric potential or simply
potential V at that point. Thus

The electric potential difference V between any two

points i and f in an electric field is equal to the
difference in potential energy per unit charge
between the two points:

 2
 Calculating the Potential from the Field

We can also define the potential difference

between points i and f as

If we set Ui = 0 at infinity as our reference potential

energy, then the electric potential V must also be
zero there. Then we can define the electric
potential at any point in an electric field to be

 3
 Work Done by Applied Force

Suppose we move a particle of charge q from point

i to point f in an electric field by applying a force to
it. During the movement, the applied force does
work Wapp on the charge while the electric field
does work W on it. The change K in the kinetic
energy of the particle is

Now suppose the particle is stationary before and

after the movement. Then Kf and Ki are both zero,
and above Eq. reduces to

 4
 Work Done by Applied Force

we can relate the work done by applied force to the

change in the potential energy of the particle during
the move. We find

we can relate the work Wapp to the electric potential

difference V between the initial and final locations
of the particle. We find

 5
 Equipotential Surfaces
Adjacent points have same electric potential form
equipotential surface, which can be either an
imaginary surface or a real, physical surface.
No net work W is done on a charged particle by an
electric field when the particle moves between two
points on the same equipotential surface.

 6
Potential from Non-Uniform Field
Potential from Non-Uniform Field
 Line of Charge
A rod of length L has positive charge of uniform
linear density λ. Let us determine the electric
potential V due to the rod at point P, a
perpendicular distance d from the left end of the
rod.

We consider a differential element dx of the rod as

shown in Fig. This (or any other) element of the rod
has a differential charge of

 9
 e

Line of Charge

This element produces an electric potential dV at

point P, which is a distance from the
element. The potential dV as

 10
 e

Line of Charge

Length of the rod, from x = 0 to x = L

 11
 e

Dielectrics: An Atomic View

Molecules with a permanent electric dipole

moment, showing their random orientation in the
absence of an external electric field

 12