Classical Electrodynamics Gabriel Barello

6.6
a.
Consider a circular toroidal current distribution with mean radius a and N turns, with a small uniform cross sectional area
A and curent I flowing around it with a charge Q at it’s center. By the elementary application of amperian loops, and
neglecting the spatial extent of the interior relative to the radius of the torus, the magnetic field inside the torus is seen to be

 IN µ IxN
 ± 2πa0 φ̂ inside the torus
~ x) =
B(~ A

0 else

a

Where the ± depends on the direction of current flow. Recall that the momentum in the fields is given by the equation
Z
Pf ield = µ0 0 E × H d3 x (1)
V
The E field is given by
Q
E(~x) = r̂ (2)
4π0 r2
We can express the radial unit vector and the azimuthal unit vector by

r̂ = (cos(φ) sin(θ), sin(φ) sin(θ), cos(θ)) (3)

φ̂ = (− sin(φ), cos(φ), 0) (4)

so that
IN Q IN Q
E×H=± 2
(− cos(θ) cos(φ), cos(θ) sin(φ), sin(θ)) ∼
=± (θ, θ, 1) (5)
2πa 4π0 a 2πa 4π0 a2
When we multiply by µ0 0 and integrate over the volume, which is approximately 2πaA, we get the result for the z
component,
IN QAµ0
(P)z = ± (6)
4πa2
And the other components approximately zero, since all positive values of θ are compensated for with negative values of
θ when an integral across the entire cross-sectional area is performed. The approximation given is
1
Pf ield = E(0) × m
c2
The total magnetic moment is zero, but if we consider the individual contributions of each loop, and sum them, we get
1 Q IN QAµ0
Pf ield = ±N IA = ±
c2 4π0 a2 4πa2
Beauty.

1
b.
Let Q = 10−6 C ∼
= 6 × 1012 electronic charges, I = 1.0A, N = 2000, A = 10−4 m2 and a = .1m. Then, at the toroid, we have

10−6 C
|E|(a) = = 898774 V (7)
4π(8.854 × 10−12 m−3 kg −1 s4 A2 )(.01m2 )
1A × 2000 × (1.256 × 10−6 )
|B|(a) = = 4 × 10−3 T (8)
2π(.1m)
200 × (10−6 C) × (10−4 m2 ) × (1.25 × 10−6 )
(P)z = = 2 × 10−12 N · s (9)
4π(.1m)2

For comparison, a 10µg insect flying at .1m/s has a momentum of p = 10−7 N · s. So, it is a few orders of magnitude
smaller, even than this.

6.9
Consider a uniform, isotropic medium described by permittivity  and µ. In general, for a non-dispersive, linear medium the
following equations apply

1 1
u= (E · D + B · H) = ((E)2 + µ(B)2 ) eqn (6.106)
2 2
S=E×H eqn (6.109)
1
g = 2 (E × H) = µE × H eqn (6.118)
c
1 1 1 1
Tij = [Ei Ej + Bi Bj − (E2 + B2 )δij ] = [Ei Ej + µHi Hj − (E2 + µH2 )δij ] eqn (6.120)
µ 2 µ 2

Where we have modified the equations in the book by substituting  (µ) for 0 (µ0 ). These are all locally defined quantities,
so the only change that needs to be made is to make  and µ position-dependent quantities and not pull them out of D and
H. So the functional form of the above stays the same, if we absord  and µ into E and B to make them a function of D and
H. However it is interesting to note that since translational invariance is broken, momentum is no longer conversed, which
manifests itself as the divergence of Tµν (in relativistic notation) no longer vanishing since now the derivatives act on E and
B but also  and µ.

6.11
A transverse plane wave is incident normally in vacuum on a perfectly abosrbing flat screen. This means that all the
momentum of the plane wave is absorbed by the screen.

a.
1
The momentum density of an electromagnetic field is given by equation (6.118) as g = c2 (E × H). Since
q
an electromagnetic
wave travels at speed c, the rate of momentum absorbed by the screen, per area, is cg = c (E × H) = µ00 (E × B) and by
1

newton’s second law, this is the force per unit area, the pressure.

For a plane wave electromagnetic wave, this gives

0 A2
r
cg = =  0 A2
µ0 c
Whereas the total energy density is given by (6.106) as

1 A2
 
1
u=  0 A2 + =  0 A2
2 µ0 c2
So indeed they are equal.