Q. A charge Q is uniformly distributed over a thin wire of length L.

if the perpendicular
distance of the point P from the center of the wire is a, calculate the electric field E at
P.
yy Q
E Let line charge density on the wire be    
L
P  charge dQ on the elemental length dx:
x
dQ   d x Source point
   
a r
 r12  r2  r1
Now r1 
  1 dq r1
E r2   
 
A dx
B rˆ r2 r2Field point
C x D 4  0 r122 12
L
 1 dx
 E P   
4  0 r 2
 yy  1 dx
E
E P   
P 4  0 r2
x
 Ex = 0 (due to symmetry along x)
a r
L
 d x cos 
A dx
B
E y
4  0  L r 2
C x D
2L
L
 L
dx  dx a
 E y
4  0  a x
2 2
cos  
4  0 
L
a x
2 2
 a2  x2
L
L
a dx
 
4  0 L a 2
x 2

3
2
 L
a  x  a 1 2L 2 L
     2 
4  0  1 4  a    
2 2 2 2
 a 2 a 2  x 2 2 0 a L 4 a a L
 L 0

 2 L
 E yˆ
4  0 a a  L
2 2

For points far from the line  a >> L

 2 L
E yˆ
4  0 a 2

 Far away from the wire, the wire of length 2L appears to be a point charge q =  x 2L
  1  2
In the limit, L   for an infinite wire E    yˆ
 4  0  a
As seen field E at each point in space in the vicinity of a collection of discrete charges or
of a charge distribution. However integral evaluation for E could be difficult in many
situations!
• An intuitive approach to visualize the E structure associated with a particular charge
distribution in the form of electric field lines or electric lines of force was introduced
by Michael Faraday.
• These are drawn in such a way that these are parallel to the direction of the E
everywhere
• Thus two field lines will never intersect as there will be a single direction of E at
every point of the field
Alternatively, another representation could be in terms of
density of field lines:
E For a spherical surface,
E it will be no. of lines/4r2

For a single pt. charge at the origin,

field reduces by inverse square law These are useful for representing complicated fields
A line of force is a continuous curve for E such that the tangent at every point points to
the direction of E

Equal charges
Equal but opposite charges

• Vector algebra provides some tricks to circumvent the difficulty of integral

evaluation for E through
   
. E and   E
Consider flux of E through a charged surface S:

 E   E. d aˆ
E S

da Flux is proportional to no. of field lines passing through a S

S Above dot product picks up component of da along E

Flux through a closed surface is a measure of the total charge inside

For a point charge at the origin of a spherical surface of radius r :
 
 E .d a  ?
q q
1 q rˆ 2
4  0 S r 2
. r sin  d d ˆ
r  
4  0  sin  d d  4   4
0
    q
 E . d a  E. nˆ d S  0
 a constant !

Reason: Surface area varies as r 2 while field varies as r 2  net product is const
 Flux of E out of any closed surface containing charge q is q 0
Gauss’s law
 
If instead there are several charges around the origin, total field will be E   Ei
i
 Flux through a surface that encloses all these charges?
 

 E   E. d aˆ    Ei . d aˆ  qi
0
S i i

 For any closed surface,   Qenc

 E. da  0
 Total electric flux out of any closed surface S is (1/0) times the total charge
enclosed by S
This is the quantitative statement of Gauss’s law in integral form
What will be its equivalent in differential form?
Invoke
1. Divergence theorem
2. A continuous charge distribution with a volume charge density 
   
 
 E. d a   . E d
S V
Rewrite
Qenc    d
V
 
  
 . E d     d : True for any volume
V

V 0 
Hence,   
 . E  : Gauss’s law in differential form
0
Same eq. can be obtained directly from the integral representation of E for a volume
charge  (C/volume)
 
  1  r1 
r12 E r2    rˆ12 d  /

4  0 2
r12
  1   rˆ12  
 . E    . 
 
2 
 r  d  /

4  0
1
 r12 
We have earlier seen in connection with -function in 3D:
    rˆ12  3    
.v   .  2   4  r12 ; r12  r2  r1
 r12 
Hence
  1   
. E   4   r2  r1   r1  d
3

4  0
Recollect 

 f x  x  a  d x  f a 

Thus
  1 
 r2 
1   
. E  4    r2  r1   r1  d 
3

4  0 0
 Gauss’s law in differential form !

From divergence theorem,

   
 
 E. d a   . E d 
1
  d
0 V
S V

Qenc

0
#1. Using Gauss’s law obtain electric field of a point charge q located at the origin

r̂ q   
  E . d a E . 4  r1 rˆ
2

da 0
For a point
q d oriented along r̂
source
O
O
r1
 1 q
 E rˆ
S1 4   0 r12

A Gaussian surface: sphere

Calculate the electric field inside and outside of a uniformly charged sphere of radius
R and charge density .

Gaussian
surface
r̂
R R Gaussian
O
 S2 surface
r
b)
S1 r̂
a)
# a)

• From symmetry on a charged sphere of radius R, E will be directed radially

outwards along r̂
 
 E . d a  E. 4  r ; r  R
2
• Electric flux over the Gaussian surface S1 :
S1
 • From Gauss’s law:
  Total charge inside 1  4  3  Q
S E . d a 
 0

 0



3
R 


 0
1
 Q rˆ R 3
E  ; rR
4  0 r 2
3 0 r 2

 For all points outside the sphere, the charge can be assumed to be concentrated
at the center
# b)
Consider a Gaussian surface S2 for which Gauss’s law states:
1  4    4  r 3
E .4 .r 2    r3   E 
0  3  4   0 3r 2
 r
 E ; rR
3 0