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Materialsintheelectrostaticfield
So far, we have learned electrostatic fields in free space. We can now extend our
theory to electrostatic fields in the presence of materials. Materials contain charged
particles that respond to electric and magnetic fields. The responses of materials
can be generally classified into

Dependingonwhichresponsedominates,materialscanbedescribedas

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¾ Conductorsintheelectrostaticfield
Conductors have lots of freely movable electric charges. In many applications, we
consider metallic conductors are perfect conductors (with infinite conductivities).
Whathappensforaconductorplacedinanelectrostaticfield?

‫ܧ‬

Electrostaticpropertiesofconductorsshouldfollow:
1) Insideaconductor,
2) Since‫ ܧ‬ൌ 0,from ߘ ‫ ڄ‬E ൌ ߩ/߳଴
3) Since‫ ܧ‬ൌ െߘܸ
4) Iftherearenetchargesinaconductor,theyresideonthesurface.
5) Withsurfacecharges,theelectricfieldmustbenormaltothesurface.

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From the discussion, we can sketch the field lines around an uncharged metallic
sphere in a electrostatic field.

‫ܧ‬

Because there is no electric field inside the sphere, we can just remove a space
inside the conductor without affecting the field outside the sphere.

‫ܧ‬

The field inside the conductor is still zero, so the space enclosed by the conductor
shell is perfectly isolated from the external electrostatic field. If the electrostatic field
outside is changed, the charge on the conductor shell will redistribute so that the
field inside will still be zero. Such a shield is called a , which is
based on the effect of “electrostatic shielding”. In fact, it does not need to be a cage.
Even a very thin metallic shell represents ideal electrostatic shielding.

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Question 1: A Faraday cage can isolate the interior from an external electrostatic
field. The field inside the cage is not affected by the external field. What if we
reverse the problemÆ if some electrostatic field is inside the Faraday cage, will the
field outside the cage be affected by the electrostatic field inside?

Question 2: Is the shielding effect still effective for timeͲvarying field (i.e., for
electromagnetic waves)?

Supportinginformation:
https://www.caplinq.com/blog/emiͲshieldingͲandͲsinterinksͲforͲ5gͲrfͲcomponents_3601/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electromagnetic_interference
https://www.wired.com/story/theͲphysicsͲofͲfaradayͲcages/
https://www.henkelͲadhesives.com/tw/zh_tw/insights/allͲinsights/eventsͲwebinars/webinarͲemiͲ
shieldingͲsolutions.html

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Electricfieldandelectricpotentialduetochargedconductors
Sometimes we may deal with charged conductors, where charges are distributed
over the surface of a conductor. What are the electric field and potential due to
charged conductors?

Numerical Example: A metallic sphere with a radius b is charged with Q. Please (a)
find the charge distribution over the surface, (b) the electric field, and (c) the
potential of the sphere.

Q b

(c)ForR>b,theelectricfieldisthesametothatduetoapoint
chargeQplacedatthecenter.

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Numerical Example: For the same metallic sphere in the previous example, the
sphere is now enclosed by an uncharged concentric metallic spherical shell with
inner radius r1 and outer radius r2. (a) What are the charge distributions on the
spherical shell? (b) What is the electric field in each region? (c) What is the potential
at the center of the sphere?

Q b

r1
r2

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Chargedistributiononmetallicconductorsofarbitraryshapes
In the previous discussions, the charge distribution on the sphere is uniform. However,
if the metallic conductor has an arbitrary shape, the charge distribution on the
conductor may not be uniform. We’ll use the following example to see how the charge
is distributed over the surface of a conductor with an arbitrary shape.
Assume we have two metallic spheres of radii b1 and b2. The total charges on the two
sphere are Q1 and Q2. The potentials and E fields of the spheres are

b1 b2
Q1 Q2

Next, we connect the two spheres together with a thin conducting wire, so the two
spheres represent a single conductor.

General conclusion: Surface charges and E field are proportional to the curvature of
the surface. For example, around sharp parts of conductors, the charges are denser
and the electric field is stronger. Applications: lightning arresters, ionized air blowers
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