A. F.

Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves Fields & Waves Note #4 The Electric Field

9/04

Objectives: Introduce the electric field associated with a point charge and illustrate its computation. Generalize to the electric field of a linear distribution of charge density and a planar distribution of charge density. The force field associated with a distribution of electric charge is one of the fundamental electromagnetic effects. The normalized force field, known as the electric field, is of primary interest. In this Note, the electric field associated with several simple charge distributions is determined. The concept of superposition is used to obtain the electric field due to continuous distributions of charge density. Coulombs Law In physics, students encounter Coulombs Law F= Q1Q2 4pe 0 R
2

(4.1)

describing the force between two point charges. This is an experimental result that was independently obtained by Coulomb, Franklin, and other scientists in the late 1700s. In equation (4.1), F denotes the force vector (N), Q denotes a point charge in Coulombs (C), R is the displacement vector pointing from the source charge to the observer charge, as defined in Note #1, and e0 is a constant of proportionality known as the permittivity of free space. This parameter has the numerical value

e 0 = 8.854 10 -12

C2 Nm2

(4.2)

We note that the units of e0 are equivalent to C2 F 2 = Nm m (4.3)

where Farads (F) are the standard electrical units of capacitance. Equation (4.2) is often approximated by

e0 @

1 36p 10 9

F m

(4.4)

The application of Coulombs Law is easily illustrated by example.

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

9/04

Example:

A point charge Q 1 = 15 mC is located at (x=0, y=1, z=2), while a second charge Q2 = 200 mC is placed at (x=3, y=2, z=1), as illustrated in Figure 1. Find the force on charge Q1. From the given construction, we can think of charge Q 2 as the source of the force field and charge Q 1 as the observer where the force is measured. Thus the vector R points from (x=3, y=2, z=1) to (x=0, y=1, z=2) and has the form + (1 - 2) y + (2 - 1) z R = (0 - 3) x -y +z = -3 x It follows that R = 9 + 1 + 1 = 11 -1 1 = R = -3 x + + R y z R 11 11 11 Then, from (4.1) we obtain F=
-6 -6 = (15 10 )(-200 10 ) R R 2 1 2 4pe 0 R 4p ( 11) 36p 10 9 27 (N) =- R = -2.45 R 11

Solution:

(4.5)

(4.6) (4.7)

Q1Q2

(4.8)

direction. By substituting the In words, the force is 2.45 Newtons in the - R , we could equivalently express the answer as explicit value for R + 0.74 y - 0.74 z (N) F = 2.22 x (4.9)

In this situation, the charges attract each other (like charges repel, unlike charges attract), which is consistent with the force pointing in the - R direction (toward the source).

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves The Electric Field

9/04

Coulombs Law describes situations where two charges interact. In many situations, it would be more convenient to remove the effect of the observer charge, in order to describe the force in an observer-independent manner. This is easily accomplished by normalizing the observer charge to 1.0 (C). In addition, we would also like to express the force as a function of position (a field). Suppose that Q 2 denotes the observer charge. A normalization can be accomplished by introducing the electric field E as the force per unit charge: E ( x, y, z ) = F Q1 = R Q2 4pe 0 R 2 N C (4.10)

In practice, electrical engineers prefer to employ electrical units, and we note the equivalence N V = C m (4.11)

where Volts (V) should be familiar to students from previous courses! In equation (4.10), the electric field is defined as a function of position, and is measured at the specific observation location (x, y, z). Suppose that the source charge is located at (x, y, z), In this general situation, it follows that + ( y - y ) y + ( z - z ) z R = ( x - x ) x R = ( x - x ) 2 + ( y - y ) 2 + ( z - z ) 2 (4.12) (4.13)

We also note that the electric field associated with a point charge decays as (1/D)2 where D denotes the distance from the point charge. The force and electric field are linear functions of the source charge, and therefore F and E produced by the combination of several charges may be obtained by superimposing the effect of each individual charge (the concept of superposition). This is illustrated by the following example:

Example:

Eight point charges, each having value Q = 10 nC, are equally spaced around a circle of radius a = 10 cm centered at the origin in the x-y plane, as illustrated in Figure 2. Find the electric field at the point (x=0, y=0, z=5 cm). Since the arrangement of sources implies circular symmetry, we will set the problem up in the cylindrical coordinate system. We will add the effect of

Solution:

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

9/04

each of the source charges to obtain the field (superposition). However, the cylindrical symmetry enables us to skip a few steps of the process! Consider a single point source located at point (r, 0, 0), and an observer location at (0, 0, z), both expressed in the cylindrical system. Figure 3 illustrates the geometry. The displacement vector is given by +zz R1 = - a r (4.14)

Note that R points away from the source and toward the observer. We also observe that R1 = a 2 + z 2 The electric field due to this single charge can be written as E (0, 0, z) = (4.15)

4pe 0

Q a +z
2 2

+zz -a r a2 + z 2

(4.16)

Because of the symmetry of the problem, there is a second charge located opposite the first on the circle, or conceptually at r = a. (Although the cylindrical system requires r> 0, we will stretch the definition here to suit our immediate needs!) Figure 4 illustrates the 2-charge configuration. The second displacement vector is +zz R2 = a r The electric field due to the 2-charge configuration is E (0, 0, z) = = (4.17)

4pe 0 4pe 0

[ [

Q a2 + z 2 Q

2z z 2 2 2 a2 + z 2 a + z

] ]

- a r +zz +zz ar + 2 2 a2 + z 2 a +z

(4.18)

The component of the field parallel to the x-y plane has been cancelled, leaving only a z-component. Since the expression in (4.18) has been constructed for a charge pair at an arbitrary position on the circle (in other words, is independent of the angle f associated with the source), we can use it to obtain the field of any pair of source charges. Therefore, an expression for the field of all 8 source charges is immediately obtained as

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

9/04

E (0, 0, z) =

4pe 0

Q a2 + z 2

8z z
2

a2 + z 2

(4.19)

Because of the cylindrical symmetry, we were able to multiply the field of a single pair of charges by a factor of 4 to obtain the solution. Substituting the specific values for Q, a, and z leads to the final result E (0, 0, 5 cm) = 25.7 z kV m (4.20)

Distributions of charge density Above, electric charge is considered in the form of point sources. Charge can also exist as a continuous distribution along a curve, a surface, or a volume. The different flavors of charge can be summarized as follows: Point charge Line charge density Surface charge density Volume charge density Q (C) (C/m) (C/m2) (C/m3)

rl
rs rv

The electric field of a continuous distribution of charge can be approximated by breaking up the continuous distribution into small pieces, and treating each piece as a point charge. For example, Figure 5 illustrates this idea for a line charge density. Segment i along the line, having length Dl i , has total charge Qi = rl Dl i (4.21)

Assuming that the line charge distribution is divided into N pieces, the expression for electric field takes the form
N rl Dl i E ( x, y, z ) @ 2 Ri = 2 Ri i =1 4pe 0 Ri i =1 4pe 0 Ri N

Qi

(4.22)

Observe that the displacement vector Ri is different for every segment, as the direction and distance from the source segment to the observer location changes. In the limiting case as the segments are reduced in size, the equivalent point charge at segment i becomes

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves Qi rl dl and the expression in (4.22) tends to an integral E ( x, y, z ) =

9/04 (4.23)

rl (l)
4pe 0 R (l)

(l) dl R

(4.24)

This expression is known as a superposition integral. Superposition integrals We illustrate the construction and evaluation of superposition integrals for two special cases, the infinite line of charge and the infinite sheet of charge.

Example:

A uniform line charge density rl is distributed along the z-axis from to +. Find the electric field at a general location (x, y, z). This problem also exhibits cylindrical symmetry, and it is sufficient to find E at (r, 0, 0) in the cylindrical coordinate system. Figure 6 illustrates the geometry. The integration variable will be denoted z. A general expression for the displacement vector, as illustrated in Figure 6, is - z z R ( z ) = r r (4.25)

Solution:

where we emphasize the fact that R is a function of the integration variable z. Observe that R points away from the source (the charge density on the z-axis) toward the observer at (r, 0, 0). The magnitude of R is R ( z ) = r2 + ( z ) 2 The electric field can be written according to (4.24) as E ( r, 0, 0) =

(4.26)

rl
4pe 0 r 2 + ( z ) 2

z =

- z z rr

r2 + ( z ) 2

dz (4.27)

- z z r rr = l dz 4pe 0 z = [ r 2 + ( z ) 2 ]3 / 2

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves If the integral is separated by the vector components, we obtain E ( r, 0, 0) =
rl 1 rr 3 / 2 dz 2 z = 4pe 0 [ r + ( z ) 2 ]

9/04

r - z + l z dz 4pe 0 z = [ r 2 + ( z ) 2 ]3 / 2

(4.28)

The first integral is an even function of z, and can be evaluated according to

z =

[r

1
2

+ ( z )

2 3/2

dz = 2

z = 0

[r

1
2

+ ( z ) 2

3/2

dz

z = 2 2 2 2 r r ( ) z + z = 0 2 = 2 r

(4.29)

The second integral is an odd function of z, and therefore integrates to zero:

z =

[r

- z
2

+ ( z ) 2

3/2

dz = 0

(4.30)

Because of the cylindrical symmetry, the electric field the same for any value of f or z. It is therefore given by E ( r,f, z) =

rl r 2pe 0 r

(4.31)

We observe that the electric field of an infinite line charge decays as (1/D), where D is the distance from the line.

The result in (4.31) can be generalized to the electric field at (x, y, z) of a line charge parallel to the z-axis, but located at the arbitrary point (x, y), That electric field is given by E ( x, y, z ) = where

rl R 2D 2pe 0 R2 D

(4.32)

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves + ( y - y ) y R2 D = ( x - x ) x

9/04 (4.33)

This result for a line charge can in turn be used to build up results for the field due to a strip of charge density, or a sheet of charge density, again based on the concept of superposition. For illustration, we use this result below to obtain the electric field of an infinite sheet of surface charge density.

Example:

A uniform surface charge density r s is distributed over the entire x-z plane. Find the electric field at a general location (x, y, z), by using the result found in the preceding example.

Solution:

This problem exhibits planar symmetry, and it is sufficient to find E at (0, y, 0,) in the Cartesian coordinate system. The surface charge density can be related to the line charge density of the previous example through the relation

rs = rl dx

(4.34)

In this situation, we can think of the infinite sheet as the superposition of an infinite number of line charges, all located parallel to the z-axis at various locations in the x-z plane. Figure 7 illustrates the geometry. A differential line charge contributes the electric field

rsdx R2 D 2pe 0 R2 D
where +yy R2 D = ( x - x ) x

(4.35)

(4.36)

Thus, the electric field due to the entire sheet can be obtained in the form E ( x, y, z ) =

rs
2pe 0 ( x - x ) + y
2 2

+yy ( x - x ) x ( x - x )2 + y 2

x =

dx (4.37)

The odd nature of the x-component of this integral suggests that it integrates to zero, simplifying the integral to

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves E ( x, y, z ) = rs y y dx x = 2pe ( x - x ) 2 + y 2 ] 0[

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ry s =y 2pe 0

x =

1 dx ( x - x )2 + y 2

(4.38)

Using the integration formula

u=

1 1 p du = tan -1 ( y u) u = = 2 y y u +y 2

(4.39)

we obtain rs y rs y p 2e 0 E ( x, y, z ) = y = r 2pe 0 y - y s 2e 0 y>0 y<0 (4.40)

Observe that the electric field produced by an infinite sheet of surface charge density is constant on either side of the sheet, and therefore does not decay as the observer moves away from the sheet. Summary The electric field is a normalized force field associated with a charge distribution. The electric field due to a point source, line source, and infinite sheet of charge has been calculated. In each case, the E -field points away from positive charge (the force field would act to repel a positive charge). The field associated with a point charge decays as (1/D)2, where D denotes the distance, while that of an infinite line charge decays as (1/D), and that of an infinite sheet of charge does not decrease with distance.