ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL & CAPACITANCE

ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL (V)

Electrostatic potential at a point in an electric field is the work done to move a unit
positive test charge (against electrostatic force without any acceleration) from infinity
to that point.

S.I unit is J/C or volt (V). It is a scalar quantity.

ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE
Electrostatic potential difference between two points in an electric field is the work
done to move a unit positive test charge (against electrostatic force without any
acceleration) from one point to the other point. (scalar quantity)
OR
NOTE:
Electric field is in the direction of decreasing potential. (V decreases along E direction)
Electric field is directed from high potential to low potential
ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL ENERGY (U)
Electrostatic potential energy at a point in an electric field is the work done by the external
force (equal and opposite to the electrostatic force) to move a positive test charge from
infinity to that point without any acceleration.
Work done to move the test charge from infinity to the point A is
.
This work done is stored as potential energy (U).
ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL ENERGY DIFFERENCE
Electrostatic potential energy difference between two points in an electric field is the work
done by external force to move a positive test charge (against electrostatic repulsive force
without any acceleration) from one point to the other point.
 LINE INTEGRAL OF ELECTROSTATIC FIELD
Force exerted by electric field on test charge,
External force applied on test charge to move it from A to B against electrostatic
repulsion is . (-ve sign signifies opposite direction)
Work done by external force,
Therefore,
Potential difference is the negative of the line integral of electric field.

NOTE:
For a closed path, . No work is done in moving a test charge over a closed path in an
electric field. (Electrostatic force is conservative – path independent ie; depends
only on initial & final positions)
 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DUE TO A POINT CHARGE

Consider a point charge q in space at a point O. Let a test charge be brought from
infinity to the point A without any acceleration.

Therefore, (V is independent of test charge)

NOTE:
1. Electric potential at infinity is zero
2. If the source charge is positive (q > 0), V is positive.
3. If the source charge is negative (q < 0), V is negative.
 GRAPH OF AND WITH FOR A POINT CHARGE
For a point charge, and E but .
Therefore F and E vary quickly with r but V varies slowly with r.
 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL AT ANY POINT AT A DISTANCE r FROM THE
CENTRE OF A DIPOLE
Consider an electric dipole of charge q and separation 2a. P is a point at a distance r
from the center of the dipole such that the dipole moment makes an angle with r.
Net potential at P is
From cosine rule, &
Now,
For a short dipole, , neglect .
Therefore,

Taking reciprocal,
Similarly,
Net potential,

Special Cases:
Axial line: If the point P lies on the axial line of the dipole, or

Equatorial line: If the point P lies on the equatorial line of the dipole, .
Derive an expression for the potential at a point on the axial line of an electric dipole

Electric potential at the point P due to is

Electric potential at the point P due to is
Net potential at P is

For a short dipole, . Neglecting ,

Contrasting features of electric potential of a dipole from that due to a single charge
1. The potential due to a dipole depends on distance r and also on the angle between
position vector r and dipole moment P. But the potential due a single charge depends
only on r.
2. The potential due to a dipole is cylindrically symmetric. But the potential due to a
single charge is spherically symmetric.
3. At large distances, dipole potential falls off as while potential due to a single charge
falls off as .
 POTENTIAL DUE TO A SYSTEM OF CHARGES

Consider n point charges , , …. lying at distances , , …. from a point P.

Potential at P due to the total charge configuration is the algebraic sum of the
potentials due to the individual charges.

Therefore,
 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DUE TO A UNIFORMLY CHARGED
SPHERICAL SHELL
Consider a spherical shell of radius R and q is the charge uniformly distributed on
the surface.
Case 1 – Point P outside the shell (

Case 2 – Point P on the surface of the shell (

Case 3 – Point P inside the shell (

 EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACE AND ITS PROPERTIES
EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACE
Any surface that has the same potential at every point on it is called an equipotential
surface.
PROPERTIES OF EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACES
1. No work is done in moving a test charge over an equipotential surface.
Proof: Let a charge be moved along two points A and B over an equipotential
surface.
. As the surface is equipotential,
Therefore, ie;
2. Electric field is always at right angles to an equipotential surface.
( = distance between 2 close points on the equipotential surface)
OR ie;
3. Equipotential surfaces help to distinguish between regions of strong and weak fields.
Equipotential surfaces are closer together in the regions of strong field and farther apart in
the regions of weak field.
If is the spacing between equipotential surfaces and the p.d between equipotential surfaces,
then . When , then .
(Thus spacing between the equipotential surfaces will be smaller in the regions where
electric field is stronger and vice versa.)
Eg: In the figure shown, p.d ()between two spherical
equipotential surfaces is a constant.
4. Two equipotential surfaces cannot intersect each other.
If they intersect, then there will be two values of electric potential at the point of
intersection, which is not possible.

BOARD QUESTION
Q. Electric field is always normal to the equipotential surface at every point.Why?
If electric field is not normal to the equipotential surface, it would have a nonzero
component along the surface. So work would be done to move a test charge against this
component. Since p.d = 0 on an equipotential surface, W = 0. Hence electric field must be
perpendicular to the equipotential surface at every point.
 EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACES FOR VARIOUS CHARGE CONFIGURATIONS
1. An isolated positive charge: Equipotential surfaces are concentric spherical shells
with their centres at the point charge.

2. Dipole: Equipotential surfaces are close together in the region between the two
charges.
3. Two equal positive charges: Equipotential surfaces are far apart in the region between
the two charges, indicating weak field in between.

4. Uniform Electric field: Equipotential surfaces are equidistant parallel planes (YZ)
normal to electric field lines along X axis.
 RELATION BETWEEN ELECTRIC FIELD AND POTENTIAL
A and B are two closely spaced equipotential surfaces. is the perpendicular distance
between A and B. Let and be their respective potentials. A unit positive test charge
is moved from B to A against the electric field.
Work done in this process,
ie;

OR
Two important conclusions are;
1. Negative sign shows that electric field E is in the direction of decreasing potential.
2. Magnitude of E is given by the change in the magnitude of the potential per unit
displacement normal to the equipotential surface at the given point.
NOTE:
3. is the change in potential with distance and is called potential gradient. It is a vector
quantity. E is the negative of potential gradient.
2. For numericals, .
3. Another S.I unit of electric field E is V/m.
4. ; ;