FIZ102E Lecture4

CapacitanceandDielectrics

AlexandrJonas
DepartmentofPhysicsEngineering
T

Whatdidwecoverlastweek?

Electricpotentialenergyinauniformfield
Workofelectricfieldtomove
chargeq0 betweenpointsa andb
Wa b

F . dl
charge
path

q0 E . dl
charge
path

Uniformelectricfieldisconservative workWabdonebyelectricforces
onchargeq0 movingbetweenpointsa andb doesnotdepend onthepath

ElectricpotentialenergyU=q0 Ey Wab=Ua Ub =q0 E(ya yb)

Electricpotentialenergyoftwopointcharges

F F

dr dl cos

q q0

4 0 r 2

Workofelectricfieldtomovechargeq0 froma tobalonganarbitrarypath

rb

rb

rb

ra

ra

ra

Wa b F cos dl F dr

q q0
q q0 1 1
U a U b
dr

2
4 0 r
4 0 ra rb
1

Workispathindependent potentialenergy U

q q0
4 0 r
1

Electricpotentialenergyofasystem
ofpointcharges
Totalforceactingonchargeq0

Ftotal F1 F2 F3 F4
N
Fi
i 1

Totalworkdonebythefieldonchargeq0 betweenpointsa andb

b

Wa b

b b b b

Ftotal . dl F1 . dl F2 . dl F3 . dl F4 . dl
a

Potentialenergy:

q0

qi
U U1 U 2 U 3 U 4

4 0 i ri

Totalpotentialenergy=algebraicsum ofindividualpotentialenergies

Electricpotential
ElectricpotentialV =potentialenergyU perunitchargeassociated
withatestchargeq0 placedattheselectedpointinanelectricfield

pointa potentialVa

chargeq0

U
q0

Units:1Volt[V]=1J/C

Voltage:
Vab Va Vb

pointb potentialVb

Wa b
q0

VoltageVab =workperunitchargedoneby
theelectricfieldtomoveachargeq0 from
pointa topointb

Calculatingelectricpotential
Singlepointcharge:

q
4 0 r

Multiplepointcharges:

qi

4 0 i ri
1

Continuouschargedistribution:
V

1
4 0

charge
distribution

dq
r

Relationbetweenelectricpotentialand
electricfield
b

Wa b
Va Vb

q0

F . dl
a

q0

q0 E . dl
a

q0

E . dl
a

Potentialdifference=lineintegralofelectricfield
Movingfrompointa topointb
(a)Inthedirectionoftheelectricfield potentialdecreasesforany
signofthesourcecharge
(b)Againstthedirectionoftheelectricfield potentialincreasesfor
anysignofthesourcecharge

Equipotentialsurfaces
Equipotentialsurface =threedimensionalsurfaceonwhich
theelectricpotentialV isthesameateverypoint
b
Wa b
Va Vb
E . dl 0
q0
a

foranytwopointsa,b onequipotentialsurfacesinceVa =Vb

E . dl 0 electricfieldisperpendicular toequipotentialsurfaces

Potentialgradient
b

Va Vb E . dl
a

V
E
x

V dV

x dx y , z const



i j k
z
x
y

V
i

V
j
z

k V

...partialderivativeofV withrespecttox
(similarlyfory andz)
...gradientoperator

Electricfield atanypointinspace=negativeofthepotentialgradient

Theelectricfieldpointsinthedirectioninwhichthepotentialdecreases
mostrapidly

Whatwillwecovertoday?

Capacitorsandcapacitance

Capacitorsinseriesandparallel

Energystorageincapacitors
andelectricfieldenergy

Dielectrics

Molecularmodelofinducedcharge
andGaussslawindielectrics