FIZ-212 GENERAL PHYSICS-2

Electromagnetism
Dr. Ayben Karasu Uysal ayben.karasu@karatay.edu.tr

Today:
Electric Potential
1- Potential Difference and Electric Potential
2- Potential Differences in a Uniform Electric Field
3- Electric Potential and Potential Energy Due to Point Charges
4- Obtaining the Value of the Electric Field from the Electric Potential
5- Electric Potential Due to Continuous Charge Distributions
6- Electric Potential Due to a Charged Conductor
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Introduction
• The concept of potential energy is also of great value in
the study of electricity.
• Because the electrostatic force is conservative,
electrostatic phenomena can be conveniently described in
terms of an electric potential energy.
• This idea enables us to define a scalar quantity known as
electric potential.
• Because the electric potential at any point in an electric
field is a scalar quantity, we can use it to describe
electrostatic phenomena more simply than if we were to
rely only on the electric field and electric forces.
• The concept of electric potential is of great practical value
in the operation of electric circuits and devices.
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 3.1 Potential Difference and Electric Potential-1
• When a test charge q0 is placed in an electric field E created by some source
charge distribution, the electric force acting on the test charge is q0E.
• The force q0E is conservative.
• Remember: the change in potential energy is the negative of the work done by
the conservative force. (Wc=-ΔU)
• For an infinitesimal displacement ds of a charge, the work done by the electric
field on the charge is F.ds =q0E.ds
• The potential energy of the charge–field system is changed by an amount
dU=-q0E.ds
• For a finite displacement of the charge from point A to point B, the change in
potential energy of the system ΔU= UB – UA is

the change in potential energy of

the system

• Because the force q0E is conservative, this line integral does not depend on the
path taken from A to B.
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 3.1 Potential Difference and Electric Potential-2
• The potential energy per unit charge U/q0 independent of the value of q0 and has a value at
every point in an electric field.
• This quantity U/q0 is called the electric potential (or simply the potential) V.
• Thus, the electric potential at any point in an electric field is V=U/q0
• Potential is a scalar quantity.
• If the test charge is moved between two positions A and B in an electric field, the charge–
field system experiences a change in potential energy.
• The potential difference ΔV =VB - VA between two points A and B in an electric field is
defined as the change in potential energy of the system when a test charge is moved
between the points divided by the test charge q0

• Just as with potential energy, only differences in electric potential are meaningful.
• To avoid having to work with potential differences, however, we often take the value of
the electric potential to be zero at some convenient point in an electric field.
• the work done by an external agent in moving a charge q through an electric field at
constant velocity is
W=-ΔU=q0ΔV
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 3.1 Potential Difference and Electric Potential-3
• Potential difference should not be confused with difference in
potential energy.

• The potential difference between A and B depends only on the

source charge distribution (consider points A and B without the
presence of the test charge)

• The difference in potential energy exists only if a test charge is

moved between the points.

• Electric potential is a scalar characteristic of an electric field,

independent of any charges that may be placed in the field.

• Unit is volt (1 volt=1J/C)

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 3.2 Potential Differences in a Uniform Electric Field
• Consider a uniform electric field directed along the -y axis.
• The potential difference between two points A and B is

• The negative sign indicates that the electric potential at point B is lower than at
point A; that is, VB < VA. Electric field lines always point in the direction of
decreasing electric potential.
• When a test charge q0 moves from A to B. We can calculate the change in the
potential energy of the charge–field system
• If q0 is positive, then ΔU is negative. This means that an electric field does work
on a positive charge when the charge moves in the direction of the electric field.
• In order for the negative charge to move in the direction of the field, an external
agent must apply a force and do positive work on the charge.

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 Example 1: A proton is released from rest in a uniform electric field that has a
magnitude of 8.0x104 V/m. The proton undergoes a displacement of 0.50 m in the
direction of E.

(A) Find the change in electric potential between points A and B.

(B) Find the change in potential energy of the proton–field system

for this displacement.
The negative sign means the
potential energy of the system
decreases as the proton moves in
the direction of the electric field.

(C) Find the speed of the proton after completing the 0.50 m displacement in the electric field.
The charge–field system is isolated, so the
mechanical energy of the system is conserved

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 3.3 Electric Potential and Potential Energy Due to Point Charges-1

• To find electric potential at a point located a distance r

from the charge, we begin with the general expression for
potential difference:

ds cosθ is the projection of ds onto r; thus, ds cosθ = dr

potential difference between

any two points A and B in a
field created by a point charge

• It is customary to choose the reference of electric potential for a point charge to be V=0 at
rA=∞. With this reference choice, the electric potential created by a point charge at any distance
r from the charge is
the total electric potential at some point P due to
several point charges is the sum of the potentials
due to the individual charges.
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 3.3 Electric Potential and Potential Energy Due to Point Charges-2

• Potential energy of a system of two charged particles: If V2 is the electric

potential at a point P due to charge q2, then the work an external agent
must do to bring a second charge q1 from infinity to P without
acceleration is q1V2.
• This work represents a transfer of energy into the system and the energy
appears in the system as potential energy U when the particles are
separated by a distance r12
if the charges are of the same
sign, U is positive

• If the system consists of more than two charged particles, we can obtain
the total potential energy by calculating U for every pair of charges and
summing the terms algebraically.
the total potential
energy of the system of
three charges
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 Example 2: A charge q1 = 2.00 µC is located at the origin, and a charge q2=6.00 µC is
located at (0, 3.00) m, as shown in Figure.

(A) Find the total electric potential due to these charges at the point
P, whose coordinates are (4.00, 0) m.

(B) Find the change in potential energy of the system of two charges plus a charge q3=3.00 µC
as the latter charge moves from infinity to point P.
When the charge q3 is at infinity, let us
define Ui = 0 for the system, and when
the charge is at P, Uf= q3VP

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 3.4 Obtaining the Value of the Electric Field from the Electric Potential

• We can express the potential difference dV between two

points a distance ds apart as dV=-E.ds
• If the electric field has only one component Ex, then
E.ds=Exdx, or Ex=-dV/dx
• If the charge distribution creating an electric field has
spherical symmetry we can express dV in the form
dV=-Er dr, or Er=-dV/dr
• If V(r) is given in terms of the Cartesian coordinates, the
electric field components Ex, Ey, and Ez can readily be
found from V(x, y, z) as the partial derivatives

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 Example 3: An electric dipole consists of two charges of equal magnitude and
opposite sign separated by a distance 2a, as shown in Figure. The dipole is along the x
axis and is centered at the origin.
(A) Calculate the electric potential at point P.

(B) Calculate V and Ex at a point far from the dipole.

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 3.5 Electric Potential Due to Continuous Charge Distributions

• If the charge distribution is known, the electric potential

dV at some point P due to the charge element dq is
where r is the distance from the charge
element to point P

• If the electric field is already known from other considerations,

such as Gauss’s law, we can calculate the electric potential due
to a continuous charge distribution using the line integral of E.ds
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 Example 4: Find an expression for the electric potential at a point P located on the
perpendicular central axis of a uniformly charged ring of radius a and total charge Q.

(B) Find an expression for the magnitude of the electric field at point P.

From symmetry, we see that along the

x axis E can have only an x component.

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 Example 5: A uniformly charged disk has radius a and surface charge density
σ.

(A) Find the electric potential.

(B) the magnitude of the electric field along the perpendicular central axis of the disk.

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 Example 6: A rod of length l located along the x axis has a total charge Q and a
uniform linear charge density λ=Q /l. Find the electric potential at a point P located on
the y axis a distance a from the origin.

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 Example 7: An insulating solid sphere of radius R has a uniform positive
volume charge density and total charge Q.

(A) Find the electric potential at a point outside the sphere, that is, for r > R. Take the
potential to be zero at r=∞.

(B) Find the electric potential at a point outside the sphere, that is, for r < R. Take the
potential to be zero at r=∞.

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 3.6 Electric Potential Due to a Charged Conductor
• Every point on the surface of a charged conductor in equilibrium is at the
same electric potential.
• V is constant everywhere on the surface of a charged conductor in
equilibrium.
• the surface of any charged conductor in electrostatic equilibrium is an
equipotential surface.
• Because the electric field is zero inside the conductor, we conclude that
the electric potential is constant everywhere inside the conductor and
equal to its value at the surface.
• No work is required to move a test charge from the interior of a charged
conductor to its surface.
• the electric field is large near convex points having small radii of
curvature and reaches very high values at sharp points.
• The electric field inside the cavity must be zero regardless of the charge
distribution on the outside surface of the conductor. Furthermore, the
field in the cavity is zero even if an electric field exists outside the
conductor.
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 Example 8: Two spherical conductors of radii r1 and r2 are separated by a distance
much greater than the radius of either sphere. The spheres are connected by a
conducting wire, as shown in Figure. The charges on the spheres in equilibrium are q1
and q2, respectively, and they are uniformly charged. Find the ratio of the magnitudes
of the electric fields at the surfaces of the spheres.
Because the spheres are connected by a
conducting wire, they must both be at the same
electric potential

Because the spheres are very far apart and their surfaces uniformly charged, we
can express the magnitude of the electric fields at their surfaces as

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SUMMARY-1

1. When a positive test charge q0 is moved between points A and B in an electric field
E, the change in the potential energy of the charge–field system is

2. The electric potential V=U/q0 is a scalar quantity and has the units of J/C, where
1J/C = 1V.
3. The potential difference ΔV between points A and B in an electric field E is
defined as

4. The potential difference between two points A and B in a uniform electric field E,
where s is a vector that points from A to B and is parallel to E is

Where d=|s|

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SUMMARY-2

5. An equipotential surface is one on which all points are at the same electric
potential. Equipotential surfaces are perpendicular to electric field lines.

6. If we define V=0 at rA=∞, the electric potential due to a point charge at any
distance r from the charge is

7. We can obtain the electric potential associated with a group of point charges by
summing the potentials due to the individual charges.

8. The potential energy associated with a pair of point charges separated by a distance
r12 is

9. This energy represents the work done by an external agent when the charges are
brought from an infinite separation to the separation r12. We obtain the potential
energy of a distribution of point charges by summing terms over all pairs of
particles.
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SUMMARY-3

10. If we know the electric potential as a function of coordinates x, y, z, we can

obtain the components of the electric field by taking the negative derivative of the
electric potential with respect to the coordinates.

11. The electric potential due to a continuous charge distribution is

12. Every point on the surface of a charged conductor in electrostatic equilibrium is

at the same electric potential. The potential is constant everywhere inside the
conductor and equal to its value at the surface.

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