Electromagnetism (I)

Instructor: Jhih-Sheng Wu
Topics: Coulomb’s Law, Gauss’s Law, Differential Form, Potential, Conductors

Due Date: Oct 26 Thu 2023, 23:59

Assignment 3
Do Problems 1, 2, 3, and 6

Problem 1 25 points Coulomb’s law, point charges

Find the electric field at (0, 0, z) for the following charge distributions and the leading term when
z  l.

(a) a charge q at (l, 0, 0) and a charge q at (−l, 0, 0).

(b) a charge q at (l, 0, 0) and a charge −q at (−l, 0, 0).

(c) a charge q at (l, 0, 0), a charge q at (−l, 0, 0), a charge −q at (0, l, 0), a charge −q at (0, −l, 0).

(d) a charge q at (l, 0, 0), a charge −q at (−l, 0, 0), a charge q at (0, l, 0), a charge −q at (0, −l, 0).

Problem 2 25 points Coulomb’s law, line charges

A ring on the z = 0 plane and centered at the origin has a radius R. Compute the electric field at
(0, 0, z), For the following line charge density λ(r).

(a) λ(r) = λ0

(b) λ(r) = λ0 sin φ

(c) λ(r) = λ0 sin2 φ

where λ0 is a constant. In (b) and (c), are there in-plane components? You can use arguments of
symmetry to eliminate the integrals related to the in-plane components.

Problem 3 25 points Coulomb’s law, surface charges

A disk on the z = 0 plane and centered at the origin has a radius R. Compute the electric field at
(0, 0, z), for the following surface charge density σ (r).

(a) σ (r) = σ0
2
(b) σ (r) = σ0 Rs 2 (here, s2 = x2 + y 2 )
2
(c) σ (r) = σ0 R2R+s2 cos(2φ)

where σ0 is a constant. You can use arguments of symmetry to eliminate the integrals related to
the in-plane components. The integrals used in this problem can be evaluated by hand. You
can also use a table of integrals in a calculus book. There are also math softwares that help to
analytically evaluate an integral. One is the symbolic math toolbox in MATLAB (Students can
download from https://ca.nycu.edu.tw/ ). Another is Mathematica, which has the on-line version
https://www.wolframalpha.com/

1
Problem 4 Coulomb’s law, surface charges
Two lengths l1 and l2 are unequal. At the z = 0 plane, the surface charge density σ (s) is given by
ql1
σ (s) = .
2π(s2 + l22 )3/2
(a) What is the total charge on the plane?

(b) What is the electric field at an arbitrary point of the z axis? Is the result the same as the electric
field of a point charge?

Problem 5 Coulomb’s law, volume charges

Griffiths Problem 2.7

Problem 6 25 points Gauss’s law

Use the Gauss’s law to find the electric field everywhere when the volume charge density is

(a) ρ(r) = ρ0 exp (−κs)

(b) ρ(r) = ρ0 exp (−κr)

Problem 7 asymptotic forms

A rectangular plate of the side lengths a and b is centered at the origin and on the x-y plane. The
plate has a constant surface charge density σ0 . Let a  b. Without calculations, use only arguments
to find the leading term of the electric field at (0, 0, z) when

(a) z  a.

(b) a  z  b.

(c) b  z.

Problem 8 Gauss’s law, sphere

The electric field E(r) is given by
 2
R
 r 2 r̂, r < R,


E(r) = E0  2
 R2 exp (−κr) r̂, r > R,

r

where R, κ, and E0 are constants.

ρ
(a) Find the charge densities ρ(r) using ∇ · E = 0 . Note that at some positions, ∇ · E is singular,
which implies that there may exist point charges, line charges, and surface charges. Also list all
the point, line, and surface charges if there are.
R
(b) What is the total charge? You can use two methods (i) Qtot = ρdv and (ii) the gaussian surface
integral. Check your result with the surface integral at infinity.

Problem 9 boundary conditions, potentials

Find the charge densities everywhere (point q, line λ, surface σ , and volume charges ρ(r)) when the
potential is
(a)

V (s, φ) = V0 ln(κs) exp(−κs).

V0 and κ are constants. Note the singularity at s = 0.

2
 (b)

R

r , r < R,




V (r, θ, φ) = V0 

 R exp(−κr)
, r > R,



r exp(−κR)


V0 and R are constants.

Hint: surface charge densities are nonzero since electric fields are not continuous at r = R.
There is a point charge at the origin.

Problem 10 potentials, conductors, capacitors

A metal sphere of radius R is surrounded by a concentric metal shell (inner radius a and outer radius
b). b > a > R. Let the sphere carry charge Q and the shell carry charge −Q.

(a) What is the surface charge density on each surface (r = R, r = a, and r = b)?

(b) What is the potential at each metal?

(c) What is the capacitance of the system?

(d) What is the electrostatic energy stored in the system? Compute the electrostatic energy with the
following two methods.
Z
0
W= E 2 dv
2 all space
CV 2
W=
2