Lecture No.4: Electrostatics: Work, Energy, and Potential

Nawroz University Subject: Electromagnetic Fields
College of Engineering Stage: Second Year

Computer and Communication Engineering Dept. Instructor: Dr. Yasser A. Fadhel
Lecture No.4
Electrostatics: Work, Energy, and Potential
4.1 Work Done in Moving a Point Charge
A charge Q experiences a force F in an electric field E. In order to maintain the

charge in equilibrium, a force Fa must be applied in opposition (Fig. 4-1):
Fig. 4-1
Work is defined as a force acting over a distance. Therefore, a differential amount
of work dW is done when the applied force Fa produces a differential
displacement d l of the charge—that is, moves the charge through the distance
dl =⎪d l⎪. Quantitatively,
Note that when Q is positive and dl is in the direction of E, dW = − QE dl < 0,

indicating that work was done by the electric field. [Analogously, the
gravitational field of the earth performs work on a (positive) mass M as it is
moved from a higher elevation to a lower one.] On the other hand, a positive dW
indicates work done against the electric field (cf. lifting the mass M).
Component forms of the differential displacement vector are as follows:
The corresponding expressions for dl were displayed in Section 1.5.
1
EXAMPLE 1 An electrostatic field is given by E = (x/2 + 2y)ax + 2xay (V/m). Find

the work done in moving a point charge Q = − 20 μC (a) from the origin to (4,
0, 0) m, and (b) from (4, 0, 0) m to (4, 2, 0) m.
4.2 Conservative Property of the Electrostatic Field

The work done in moving a point charge from one location, B, to another, A, in
a static electric field is independent of the path taken. Thus, in terms of Fig. 4-2,
where the last integral is over the closed contour formed by ➀ described
positively and ➁ described negatively. Conversely, if a vector field F has the
property that ∮ 𝐅 · 𝑑𝐥 = 0 over every closed contour, then the value of any line
2
integral of F is determined solely by the endpoints of the path. Such a field F is
called conservative; it can be shown that a criterion for the conservative property
is that the curl of F vanishes identically.
Fig. 4-2
EXAMPLE 2 For the E field of Example 1, find the work done in moving the same
charge from (4, 2, 0) back to (0, 0, 0) along a straight-line path.
3
4.3 Electric Potential Between Two Points
The potential of point A with respect to point B is defined as the work done in
moving a unit positive charge, Qu, from B to A.
It should be observed that the initial, or reference, point is the lower limit of the
line integral. Then, too, the minus sign must not be omitted. This sign came into
the expression by way of the force Fa = − QE, which had to be applied to put the
charge in equilibrium.
Because E is a conservative field,
VAB = VAC − VBC

whence VAB may be considered as the potential difference between points A and
B. When VAB is positive, work must be done to move the unit positive charge
from B to A, and point A is said to be at a higher potential than point B.
4.4 Potential of a Point Charge

Since the electric field due to a point charge Q is completely in the radial
direction,
For a positive charge Q, point A is at a higher potential than point B when rA is

smaller than rB.
If the reference point B is now allowed to move out to infinity,
or
Considerable use will be made of this equation in the materials that follow. The
greatest danger lies in forgetting where the reference is and attempting to apply
the equation to charge distributions which themselves extend to infinity.
4.5 Potential of a Charge Distribution
If charge is distributed throughout some finite volume with a known charge
density ρ (C/m3), then the potential at some external point can be determined.
To do so, a differential charge at a general point within the volume is identified,
as shown in Fig. 4-3. Then at P,
4
Integration over the volume gives the total potential at P:
where dQ is replaced by ρ dv. Now R must not be confused with r of the spherical
coordinate system. And R is not a vector but the distance from dQ to the fixed
point P. Finally, R almost always varies from place to place throughout the
volume and so cannot be removed from the integrand.
Fig. 4-3
If charge is distributed over a surface or a line, the above expression for V holds,
provided that the integration is over the surface or the line and that ρs or ρl is used
in place of ρ. It must be emphasized that all these expressions for the potential at
an external point are based upon a zero reference at infinity.
40
EXAMPLE 3 A total charge of nC is uniformly distributed in the form of a
3
circular disk of radius 2 m. Find the potential due to this charge at a point on the
axis, 2 m from the disk. Compare this potential with that which results if all of
the charge is at the center of the disk.
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4.6 Relationship between E and V

From the integral expression for the potential of A with respect to B, the
differential of V may be written as
On the other hand, from the definition of the gradient of V we have
Since d l = dr is an arbitrary small displacement, it follows that
The electric field intensity E may be obtained when the potential function V is
known by simply taking the negative of the gradient of V. The gradient was found
to be a vector normal to the equipotential surfaces, directed to a positive change
in V. With the negative sign here, the E field is found to be directed from higher
to lower levels of potential V.
The gradient in the cylindrical and spherical coordinate systems follows
directly from that in the Cartesian system. It is noted that each term contains the
partial derivative of V with respect to distance in the direction of that particular
unit vector.
While ∇V is written for grad V in any coordinate system, it must be remembered

that the del operator is defined only in Cartesian coordinates.
6
EXAMPLE 4 In spherical coordinates and relative to infinity, the potential in the
region r > 0 surrounding a point charge Q is V = Q / 4π ε0 r. Hence,
4.7 Energy in Static Electric Fields

Consider the work required to assemble, charge by charge, a distribution of n =
3 point charges. The region is assumed initially to be charge-free and with E = 0
throughout.
Referring to Fig. 4-4, the work required to place the first charge, Q1, into
position 1 is zero. Then, when Q2 is moved toward the region, work equal to the
product of this charge and the potential due to Q1 is required. The total work to
position the three charges is
WE = W1 + W2 + W3
= 0 + (Q2 V2, 1 ) + (Q3 V3, 1 + Q3 V3, 2 )
The potential V2, 1 must be read “the potential at point 2 due to charge Q1 at
position 1.” (This rather unusual notation will not appear again in this book.) The
work WE is the energy stored in the electric field of the charge distribution. (See
the Solved Problem 5.16 for a comment on this identification.)
Now if the three charges were brought into place in reverse order, the total
work would be
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WE = W3 + W2 + W1
= 0 + (Q2 V2, 3 ) + (Q1 V1, 3 + Q1 V1, 2 )
When the two expressions above are added, the result is twice the stored energy:
2WE = Q1 (V1, 2 + V1, 3) + Q2 (V2, 1 + V2, 3) + Q3 (V3, 1 + V3, 2 )
The term Q1(V1, 2 + V1, 3) was the work done against the fields of Q2 and Q3, the
only other charges in the region. Hence, V1, 2 + V1, 3 = V1, the potential at position
1. Then
2WE = Q1 V1 + Q2 V2 + Q3 V3
and
Fig. 4-4
for a region containing n point charges. For a region with a charge density ρ
(C/m3) the summation becomes an integration,
Other forms (see Problem 6.11) of the expression for stored energy are
In an electric circuit, the energy stored in the field of a capacitor is given by
where C is the capacitance (in farads), V is the voltage difference between the
two conductors making up the capacitor, and Q is the magnitude of the total
charge on one of the conductors.
8
EXAMPLE 5 A parallel-plate capacitor, for which C = εA/d, has a constant
voltage V applied across the plates (Fig. 4-5). Find the stored energy in the
electric field.
Fig. 4-5
Note: The required solved problems of chapter five are; 5.3 / 5.4 / 5.5 / 5.6 / 5.8
/ 5.9 / 5.10 / 5.11 / 5.14 / 5.15 / 5.18.
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Solved Problems
5.3. Given the field E = (k / r) ar (V/m) in cylindrical coordinates, show that the
work needed to move a point charge Q from any radial distance r to a point
at twice that radial distance is independent of r.
Since the field has only a radial component,
For the limits of integration use r1 and 2r1
which is independent of r1.

5.4. For a line charge ρl = (10-9/2) C/m on the z axis, find VAB, where A is (2 m,
π /2, 0) and B is (4 m, π, 5 m).
10
5.5. In the field of Problem 5.4, find VBC, where rB = 4 m and rC = 10 m. Then
find VAC and compare with the sum of VAB and VBC.
5.6. Given the field E = (-16/r2) ar (V/m) in spherical coordinates, find the
potential of point (2m, π, π /2) with respect to (4m, 0, π ).
The equipotential surfaces are concentric spherical shells. Let r = 2 m be A
and r = 4 m, B. Then
5.8. Find the potential at rA = 5 m with respect to rB = 15 m due to a point charge

Q = 500 pC at the origin and zero reference at infinity.
Due to a point charge,
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5.9. Forty nanocoulombs of charge is uniformly distributed around a circular ring

of radius 2 m. Find the potential at a point on the axis 5 m from the plane of
the ring. Compare with the result where all the charge is at the origin in the
form of a point charge.
With the charge in a line,
5.10. Five equal point charges, Q = 20 nC, are located at x = 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 m.

Find the potential at the origin.
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5.11. Charge is distributed uniformly along a straight line of finite length 2L (Fig.
5-12). Show that for two external points near the midpoint, such that r1 and
r2 are small compared to the length, the potential V12 is the same as for an
infinite line charge.
13
5.14. Two thin conducting half planes, at ϕ = 0 and ϕ = π /6, are insulated from
each other along the z axis. Given that the potential function for 0 ≤ ϕ ≤ π /6
is V = (-60 ϕ /π ) V, find the energy stored between the half planes for 0.1 ≤
r ≤ 0.6 m and 0 ≤ z ≤ 1 m. Assume free space.
To find the energy, W′ E, stored in a limited region of space, one must
integrate the energy density (see Problem 5.13) through the region. Between
the half planes,
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5.15. The electric field between two concentric cylindrical conductors at r = 0.01
m and r = 0.05 m is given by E = (105/r) ar (V/m), fringing neglected. Find
the energy stored in a 0.5-m length. Assume free space.
5.18. A spherical conducting shell of radius a, centered at the origin, has a

potential field
with the zero reference at infinity. Find an expression for the stored energy
that this potential represents.
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Lecture No.4: Electrostatics: Work, Energy, and Potential

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Lecture No.4: Electrostatics: Work, Energy, and Potential

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Nawroz University Subject: Electromagnetic Fields

College of Engineering Stage: Second Year

A charge Q experiences a force F in an electric field E. In order to maintain the

Note that when Q is positive and dl is in the direction of E, dW = − QE dl < 0,

Component forms of the differential displacement vector are as follows:

The corresponding expressions for dl were displayed in Section 1.5.

EXAMPLE 1 An electrostatic field is given by E = (x/2 + 2y)ax + 2xay (V/m). Find

4.2 Conservative Property of the Electrostatic Field

VAB = VAC − VBC

4.4 Potential of a Point Charge

For a positive charge Q, point A is at a higher potential than point B when rA is

Integration over the volume gives the total potential at P:

4.6 Relationship between E and V

On the other hand, from the definition of the gradient of V we have

Since d l = dr is an arbitrary small displacement, it follows that

While ∇V is written for grad V in any coordinate system, it must be remembered

4.7 Energy in Static Electric Fields

2WE = Q1 (V1, 2 + V1, 3) + Q2 (V2, 1 + V2, 3) + Q3 (V3, 1 + V3, 2 )

In an electric circuit, the energy stored in the field of a capacitor is given by

For the limits of integration use r1 and 2r1

which is independent of r1.

5.8. Find the potential at rA = 5 m with respect to rB = 15 m due to a point charge

5.9. Forty nanocoulombs of charge is uniformly distributed around a circular ring

5.10. Five equal point charges, Q = 20 nC, are located at x = 2, 3, 4, 5, and 6 m.

5.18. A spherical conducting shell of radius a, centered at the origin, has a

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