Continuous Distributions of Charge

• Charge can occur as

– point charges (C)
– volume charges (C/m3)  most general
– surface charges (C/m2)
– line charges (C/m)

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Continuous Distributions of Charge

• Volume charge density

Qencl

r V’

qev r   lim
Qencl
V 0 V 

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Continuous Distributions of Charge
• Electric field due to volume charge density

r
dV’ r P
Qencl V’

qev r dv R
d E r  
4 0 R 3

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
Electric Field Due to Volume Charge
Density

qev r  R
E r  
1

4 0 V  R 3
dv 

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Continuous Distributions of Charge

• Surface charge density

Qencl

r S’

qes r   lim
Qencl
S 0 S 

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
Continuous Distributions of Charge
• Electric field due to surface charge density

r
dS’ r P
Qencl S’

qes r ds R
d E r  
4 0 R 3

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

24
Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
Electric Field Due to Surface Charge
Density

qes r  R
E r  
1

4 0 S  R 3
ds 

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Continuous Distributions of Charge
• Line charge density

r L’ Q
encl

qel r   lim
Qencl
L0 L

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Continuous Distributions of Charge
• Electric field due to line charge density

r L’ Q
encl r P

qel r dl  R
d E r  
4 0 R 3
Course: EEE 3131, Engineering
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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
Electric Field Due to Line Charge
Density

qel r  R
E r  
1

4 0 L R 3
dl 

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

28
Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• An electric field is a force field.
• If a body being acted on by a force is
moved from one point to another, then
work is done.
• The concept of scalar electric potential
provides a measure of the work done in
moving charged bodies in an electrostatic
field.

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• The work done in moving a test charge from one
point to another in a region of electric field:

F
b
a
q dl
b b
Wa b    F  d l  q  E  d l
a a

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• In evaluating line integrals, it is customary to take
the dl in the direction of increasing coordinate
value so that the manner in which the path of
integration is traversed is unambiguously
determined by the limits of integration.
b a
x
3 5 3
Wa b  q  E  aˆ x dx
5

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• The electrostatic field is conservative:
– The value of the line integral depends only on
the end points and is independent of the path
taken.
– The value of the line integral around any closed
path is zero.

C

C
E  d l  0
Course: EEE 3131, Engineering
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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• The work done per unit charge in moving a
test charge from point a to point b is the
electrostatic potential difference between
the two points:
b
Wa b
Vab    E  d l
q a

electrostatic potential difference

Units are volts.
Course: EEE 3131, Engineering
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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• Since the electrostatic field is conservative
we can write
b P0 b
Vab    E  d l    E  d l   E  d l
a a P0

b  a 
  E  dl    E  dl 
 
P0  P0 
 V b   V a 
Course: EEE 3131, Engineering
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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• Thus the electrostatic potential V is a scalar
field that is defined at every point in space.
• In particular the value of the electrostatic
potential at any point P is given by

P
V r     E  d l
P0
reference point

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

35
Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential
• The reference point (P0) is where the potential
is zero (analogous to ground in a circuit).
• Often the reference is taken to be at infinity so
that the potential of a point in space is
defined as
P
V r     E  d l


Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

36
Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential and Electric
Field
• The work done in moving a point charge from
point a to point b can be written as

Wa b  Q Vab  QV b   V a 
b
 Q  E  d l
a

Course: EEE 3131, Engineering

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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman
 Electrostatic Potential and Electric
Field
• Along a short path of length l we have

W  QV  Q E  l
or
V   E  l
Course: EEE 3131, Engineering
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Electromagnetics By: S M Rahman