Conductors and Capacitors

Pre-Reading:
Ch 2.5
 Announcement: Midterm 1 on Oct 17
• Midterm 1 is two weeks from today, in class
covering Ch. 1-2.5 and 3.4.
• Time: 60 min
• Long answer questions, all steps must be shown.
• Exam will be presented on paper, we will scan
and upload to gradescope for you afterwards
• Formula sheet will be provided, additionally you
can bring your own (1 sheet front and back)
• Practice midterms (from previous years) will be
posted on canvas.
 Electrostatic properties of conductors

• E=0 inside - mobile charges rearrange to

cancel external field
• By Gauss, r=0 inside
• Any net charge resides on the surface
• A conductor is an equipotential (V=const)
• E perpendicular to surface just outside a
conductor
 Group Exercise
A metal sphere of radius R, carrying charge q is
surrounded by a think concentric metal shell. The
shell carries no net charge.
a) Find surface charge density at R, at a and at b.
b) Find the potential at the center using infinity as
reference point.

a
+q Metal sphere: radius R
R Metal shell: Inner radius
a, outer radius b

(10 min)
b
We have a large copper plate with
uniform surface charge density 
Imagine the Gaussian surface drawn
below. Calculate the E-field a small
distance s above the conductor surface.
A) |E| = /e0
B) |E| = /2e0
C) |E| = /4e0
s D) |E| = (1/4pe0)(/s2)
E) |E| =0
 Consider two situations, both with very large (effectively
infinite) planes of charge, with the same uniform charge
per area 
I. A plane of charge completely isolated in space:
++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

II. A plane of charge on the surface of metal in equilib:

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Which situation has the larger electric field

above the plane?

A) I B) II C) I and II have the same size E-field

 Clicker

Given a pair of very large, flat, conducting capacitor

plates with surface charge densities +/- , what is
the E field in the region between the plates?

A) e
+Q
B) e + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + +

C) 2e
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
D) 4e
-Q
E) Something else
When isolated plates are brought
together, the charges rearrange
and are only at the interior
surfaces. The charge density there
is now 21. After the charges have
rearranged you could use the
superposition formula for non-
conducting plates (as in Griffiths
example 2.6) and you get

E= 21/2e + 21/2e = /e

The boundary condition

always applies and is compatible

with this.
A HOLLOW copper sphere has total charge +Q.
A point charge +q sits outside.
A charge, q’, is in the hole, SHIFTED right a bit.
(We are in static equilibrium.)
What does the E field look like in the “hole”
region?
A) Simple Coulomb
+q field (straight away
from q’, right up to
+q’ the wall)
+Q B) Complicated/ it’s
hard to compute
 Examples of capacitors
Dresden high magnetic
Microelectronics
field laboratory

Membranes/nerve cells
 Clicker
Given a pair of very large, flat, conducting
capacitor plates with total charges +Q and –Q.
Ignoring edges, what is the equilibrium
distribution of the charge? +Q

A) Throughout each plate -Q

B) Uniformly on both side of each plate
C) Uniformly on top of + Q plate and bottom
of –Q plate
D) Uniformly on bottom of +Q plate and top
of –Q plate
E) Something else
 Capacitance

+Q -Q

Suppose you have two conductors of +Q and –Q respectively

DV = V+ - V- = - ò E · d ℓ
Coulomb’s law tells us E is proportional to Q (proof in Ch.3), so
V is proportional to Q. This allows us to define capacitance:

Q
C= (Intrinsically positive)
DV
Parallel plate capacitor
 Exercise
Calculate the capacitance of a spherical capacitor, two
concentric metal shells with radii a and b, with charge
+Q and –Q respectively. The conductors are
separated by gap filled with air.

Q
b C=
+Q
a DV
-Q
5 min
Hint: Think about calculating ΔV between the shells.
Other capacitor geometries
 Energy of a capacitor
To charge up a capacitor, you need to remove
electrons from the positive plate and carry them to the
negative plate (fighting against electric field). How
much work does it take to charge capacitor up to Q?
 Clicker
You have two very large parallel plate
capacitors, both with the same area and the
same charge Q. Capacitor #1 has twice the gap
of Capacitor #2. Which has more stored
potential energy? #1 +Q
2d
-Q
A) #1 has twice the stored energy
B) #1 has more than twice
C) They both have the same #2
+Q
D) #2 has twice the stored energy d
-Q
E) #2 has more than twice.
 Clicker

You have two parallel plate capacitors, both with the

same area and the same gap size. Q1 = 2Q2
Which has more capacitance? More stored energy?

#1 +2Q
A) C1>C2, PE1>PE2
-2Q
B) C1>C2, PE1=PE2
C) C1=C2, PE1=PE2
D) C1=C2, PE1>PE2 #2 +Q

E) Some other combination! -Q

 Clicker
V

A parallel plate capacitor is attached to a battery

which maintains a constant voltage difference V
between the capacitor plates. While the battery is
attached, the plates are pulled apart. The
electrostatic energy stored in the capacitor
A) increases
B) decreases
C) stays constant.
 Clicker

After charging the capacitor, the battery is

detached, and then the plates are pulled apart.
The electrostatic energy stored in the
capacitor
A) increases
B) decreases
C) stays constant.
 Next lecture: Multipole Expansion
A systematic expansion of the potential of a
localized charge distribution in powers of 1/r

Monopole Dipole Quadrupole