PHY 102 LECTURE NOTE 2023 2024 SESSION

COURSE CONTENT

GAUSS’S LAW. CAPACITANCE, ELECTRIC DIPOLES. ENERGY IN

ELECTRIC FIELDS. LORENTZ FORCE. BIOT-SAVART AND AMPÈRE’S
LAWS.

GAUSS’ LAW

Qauss’ law is a generalization of Coulomb’s law and is useful for the

determination of E- field for the configurations that posses a fairly high degree
of symmetry.

Gauss’ theorem which states that the flux passing through any closed surface
of arbitrary shape, is always equal to the total charge enclosed by the surface
divided by the permittivity of free space. This is mathematically, given as

Where ΦE is the net number of lines emerging through an area perpendicular to

these lines through the given surface. This can be written as

In other words, the surface integral of the normal component of an E – field

through any closed surface is the total charge enclosed divided by the
permittivity of free space Hence, provided the charge distribution has a
certain amount of symmetry, equation (1) can be used to determine the E – field
vector at the surface. Alternatively, Gauss’ law can be used to calculate the net
charge inside a closed surface, if the E – field vector at all points on the
surface is known.

APPLICATION OF GAUSS, LAW

(a) E – FIELD DUE TO A CHARGED SPHERE

Consider a point charge at the centre of an imaginary sphere of radius r (see

figure below). The area of this sphere is and since by symmetry the E –
field is the same at every point on the surface, the total flux through the
Gaussian surface is by Gauss’ law

1
Thus the field at the surface of the sphere is exactly the same as though all
the charge q were concentrated at the centre of the sphere.

A B

In figure B , since there is no charge within the volume enclosed by the charged
sphere,

Since dS is not zero, the E- field must be zero every where inside the charged
sphere.

(b) E – FIELD DUE TO AN INFINITE PLANE SHEET OF CHARGE

Consider an infinite plane sheet of charge with surface charge density

(see figure below).

2
 ++ + + + + +
+ + + +
+ + + + +
+++

E – field due to a charged plane sheet

From Gauss’ law, the E – field is given by

(c) ELECTRIC FIELD DUE TO A CHARGED CYLINDRICAL CONDUCTOR

Consider a cylinder of radius r and length and length l with

( ).

Electric field due to a charged cylinder

We define the surface charge density . So that by Gauss’ law

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ENERGY IN ELECTRIC FIELDS

In an electric field, energy is stored in the form of electric potential energy. When
charges are placed in an electric field, they experience a force due to the presence of
the field. As they move within the field, work is done either by or against the electric
field, depending on the direction of motion. This work results in a change in the
potential energy of the charges. Hence, if a charge is moved through an
infinitesimal distance dr, the change in potential energy is

, i.e from

The negative sign shows that an external work is done against the E –field
forces. If the charge is moved through a finite distance, e.g. from an initial
position A to a final position B, the change in the potential energy is

This gives the amount of work W required to move a given charge quasi –
statistically between two points in an E – field against the field forces.
Integrating equation (2) gives

( )

This equation shows that the electrostatic field is a conservative field, i.e. the
change in the potential energy does not depend on the path taken by the charge
but on its initial and final positions.

From equation (2)

This external work per unit charge is known as electric potential ( )

Hence

( )

The electric potential ( ) at a point in an electric field is defined as the electric

potential energy per unit charge. It represents the amount of work done to bring a unit
positive charge from infinity to that point.

Thus, the electric potential at a point r distance from a charge q in an E- field is

( ) ∫

4
 ∫

Or

( )

We can therefore write

( )

And the corresponding change in the potential energy from infinity to r as

( ) since ∫

EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACE

A surface in which the potential is the same at all points is called an

equipotential surface. This implies that the work done in taking a unit charge
from one point to another in an equipotential surface is zero. The earth is a
good example of an equipotential surface, metallic conductors are also good
examples.

Example 1

A university undergraduate boy was suspended at a height h = 5m above the

ground during a thunder storm. If the mass of the student was 50kg, and the
potential difference between the thundercloud and the ground is 10 7 V,
calculate (a) the E – field created by the storm, (b) the amount of charge that
passed through him from the cloud to the ground and (c) the energy dissipated
in him. Take g = 10m / s2.

Solution

(a) Assuming the earth to be a charged body, the potential at distance h

from the earth is the work done in taking a unit positive charge from
infinity to h. Hence, from equation

(b) Step 1. Calculate the gravitational force on the boy.

(c) Step 2. The electric force required to balance the gravity is

5
 where q is the charge that passed through the boy.
Hence

= 2.5 x 10-4C
(d) The energy dissipated in the boy is

= 2,500J

Example 2

The figure below show two point charges –Q and +2Q fixed at the points B and
C at a distance of 10cm apart. If Q = 1.0 x 10-7C, calculate (a) the electric
potential at D (b) the electric potential at A.

10cm 10cm

10cm C +2Q
-Q B
D

Solution

(a) The electric potential at D due to the charges at B and C is

( )
( ) ( )

( )

( )( )

(b) The electric potential at A

( )
( ) ( )

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 ( )

( )( )

Electric Dipole

An electric dipole is a pair of opposite charges of equal magnitude separated by

a certain distance. This configuration results in a permanent or induced electric
dipole moment. By default, the direction of electric dipoles in space is always
from negative charge “-q” to positive charge “q”. The midpoint “q” and “–q” is
called the centre of the dipole.

The electric dipole moment (p) of an electric dipole is a vector pointing from the
negative to the positive charge, with the magnitude equal to the product of the
charge magnitude (q) and the separation distance (d) between the charges.

This can be mathematically represented as follows:

Dipoles arise often in nature, for example, a water molecule can be modelled as
dipole, because the two hydrogen atoms are not symmetrically arranged around
the oxygen atom. The electrons in a water molecule tend to stay closer to the
oxygen atom, which acquires an excess of 2 electrons, while each proton has a
deficit of 1 electron, resulting in a separation of charge (polarization), which can
be modelled as a an electric dipole, as in figure below.

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Figure : An electric dipole in a uniform electric field

Although the net force on the dipole is zero, there is still a net torque about its
centre that will cause the dipole to rotate (unless the dipole vector is already
parallel to the electric field vector).

In particular, note that the torque is zero when the dipole and electric field
vectors are parallel. Thus, a dipole will always experience a torque that tends to
align it with the electric field vector. The dipole is thus in a stable equilibrium
when it is parallel to the electric field.

Direction of Electric Dipole Moment

The electric dipole moment is a vector quantity. It has a defined direction which
is from the negative charge to the positive charge. The line along the direction
of an electric dipole is called the axis of the dipole.

Electric potential due to a Dipole (V)

Suppose there are two charges, “–q”, placed at A, and “+q” placed at B,
separated by a distance “d”, forming a dipole. Suppose the midpoint of AB is
“O”.

The Electric potential due to a dipole at any point P, such that OP = r will be:

Case 1: If θ = 90°

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Electric potential = V = 0

Case 2: If θ = 0°

Physical Significance of Dipole

Electric dipole is not only prominent in electrostatics but also in chemistry. In

most molecules, the centre of positive and negative charges coincide at the
same point because of which the distance between two charges is zero. Carbon
dioxide and methane fall under the category of zero dipole moment. This type
of molecules are known as non-polar molecules. The molecules that have
permanent dipole moment as the centre of positive and negative charge don’t
coincide are called polar molecules. Polar molecules exhibit a permanent electric
dipole moments due to uneven distribution of charge within the molecules.

Electric dipoles can also be induced in neutral atoms or molecules when placed in
an external electric field. In this case, the centre of positive charge shifts
slightly in one direction while the centre of negative charge shifts in the
opposite direction, creating an electric dipole.

Electric field of a dipole

The electric field created by an electric dipole is complex but can be

approximated as being strong near the charges and decreasing rapidly with
distance. At large distances compared to the separation of charges, the electric
field behaves like that of a point charge with the dipole located at its centre.

Torque on a dipole

An electric dipole placed in an external electric field experiences a torque. The

torque ( ) tends to align the dipole with electric field and is given by

P is the electric dipole moment

E is the electric field.

Example 1. What is the dipole moment for a dipole having equal charges -2C and 2C
separated with a distance of 2cm.

Solution From,

9
Thus,

Example 2.What is the net force acting on a dipole placed in a uniform electric
field?

The forces on the two charges constituting the dipole are equal and opposite.
Hence, the net force is zero.

Example 3.What is the SI unit of the dipole moment?

The SI unit of dipole moment is Coulomb-metre

Example 4.When is the torque on a dipole maximum?

When the dipole is held perpendicular to the field, the torque is maximum.

Example 5.When is the torque on a dipole minimum?

When the dipole is parallel to the field, the torque on a dipole is minimum.

Lorentz Force
The force experienced by a charged particle due to electric and magnetic fields
is known as the Lorentz force. Lorentz force is defined as the combination of
the magnetic and electric force on a point charge due to electromagnetic fields.
It is used in electromagnetism and is also known as electromagnetic force. In
the year 1895, Hendrik Lorentz derived the modern formula of Lorentz force.

Lorentz Force Formula

Lorentz force formula for the charged particle is as follows:

( )

Where,

 F is the force acting on the particle

 q is the electric charge of the particle
 v is the velocity
 E is the external electric field
 B is the magnetic field

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Lorentz force formula for continuous charge distribution is as follows:

( )

Where,

 is a force on a small piece of the charge

 is the charge of a small piece
When a small piece of charge distribution is divided by the volume dV, the
following is the formula:

( )

Where,

 f is the force per unit volume

 ⍴ is the charge density
With the help of the right-hand rule, it becomes easy to find the direction of
the magnetic part of the force.

Right-Hand Rule

The right-hand rule is useful to find the magnetic force as it becomes easy to
visualize the direction as given in Lorentz force law.

From the above figure, it is understood that the magnetic force is

perpendicular to both the magnetic field and charge velocity.

Applications of Lorentz Force

The following are the applications of Lorentz force:

 Cyclotrons and other particle accelerators use Lorentz force.

 A bubble chamber uses Lorentz force to produce the graph for getting
the trajectories of charged particles.

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  Cathode ray tube televisions use the concept of Lorentz force to deviate
the electrons in a straight line so they land on specific spots on the
screen.
THE PARALLEL – PLATE CAPACITOR

A capacitor is a device for storing electric charges. It also stores energy. Any
arrangement of two nearby conductors of any shape carrying equal and opposite
charges is called a capacitor. The conductors are called the plates of the
capacitor. The equal and opposite charges can be put on the plates by simply
connecting the two plates to the two terminals of a battery. One of the
simplest practical forms is the parallel – plate capacitor. This consists of two
metallic plates each of area A, separated by an insulator of thickness d. The
insulator can be plastic film or paper or air and is usually referred to as the
dielectric of the capacitor. If the charge on either plate of the capacitor is q
and σ is the surface charge density, then from Gauss’ law, the E – field created
by the presence of the charge is

Where is the permittivity of the dielectric. The potential difference between

the plates thus becomes

∫ ( )

For a given capacitor are constants so that we write

q = CV 2

q A

+ +
+ + +

_ _ _ _

Parallel plate capacitor

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is called the capacitance of the capacitor. The capacitance measures the amount
of charge required to increase the potential of a conductor by one volt. The
last equation shows that the capacitance of a capacitor increases linearly with
the area of the plates and is inversely proportional to the separation of the two
plates for any given dielectric. The SI unit of capacitance is farad (F) which
turns out to be a very large unit, sub-units are usually preferred e.g. microfarad
(μF = 106 F) or picofarad (ρF = 1012 F).

COMBINATIONS OF CAPACITORS
Capacitors find widespread applications especially in solid state device such as
circuitry of radios, electronic calculators, automobile ignition system, etc. In
some of these electronic systems, e.g. radios, where capacitors are used as part
of circuit elements, they often appear in combinations whose equivalent
capacitance must be known. The two most common combinations are the series
and parallel connections.

(a) CAPACITORS IN SERIES

The figure below shows three capacitors C1,C2 and C3 connected in series with a
Potential difference of V volts. Each capacitor has the same charge so that
The potential difference across the plates can be written as
C1 C2 C3

q1 q2 q3

So that the total potential difference of the system is

( )

Or

13
In general, we write

Equation (5) and (6) shows that the reciprocal of the equivalent capacitance is
the sum of the reciprocals of the capacitances and that the equivalent series
capacitance is less than least individual capacitance.

(b) CAPACITORS IN PARALLEL

The figure below shows the three capacitors in parallel. Since the potential
difference is the same across the pairs of capacitors, the charge on each plate
is:

q3
q1 q2

Hence the total charge of the combination is

( )
0r

In general, we write for a parallel connection involving n pairs of capacitor,

This implies that the equivalent capacitance of a parallel combination of

capacitors is the algebraic sum of the individual capacitances.

ENERGY STORED IN CAPACITORS

We have shown in our earlier lecture that the work done in building up charges
from a region of zero potential (infinity) to any point with a potential V is

14
 ∫ ( )

Using equation ( ), the last equation becomes

∫ 10
Equivalently, we can write
11
Or

This work done in building up charges goes into stored energy in the system in
form of potential energy. The ability of capacitors to stored energy finds
application in defibrillator device used in treatment of ventricular fibrillation,
which is a common type of heart attack.

Example 1
Three capacitors of 4μF, 8μF and 12μF are connected in parallel and a pd of 6V
is maintained across each capacitor.
(a) Find the charge on each capacitor.
(b) the equivalent capacitance.
(c) The energy stored in each capacitor and hence the total energy stored
in the system.
Solution
(a) since the Pd across each is 6V, the charge on each plate is

(b) The equivalent capacitors is

Or
( )

(c) The energy stored in each capacitor is

15
The total energy stored in the three capacitors is
( )
Alternatively

Example 2
Three capacitors are connected in series and a Pd of 6V supplied as shown
below.

4 8 12

µF µF µF

6
V

Calculate (a) the equivalent capacitance, (b) the charge, (c) The Pd and (d) the
energy stored by each capacitor, (e) Find the total energy stored by the
system.
Solution
(a) The equivalent capacitance is

(b) The charge is the same across each plate,

(c) The Pd across each plate is

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 (d) The energy stored in each capacitor,
( )

( )

( )

(e) The total energy is

( )

APPLICATION OF CAPACITORS
1.Energy storage (e.g., in batteries and power supplies).
2.Filtering and smoothing of electrical signals.
3. Timing circuits.
4. In electronic components like oscillators, amplifiers and filters.

BIOT-SAVART’S LAW
Consider a current element idl in the figure below,

𝑑𝐵

𝑃
𝑖𝑑𝑙
𝜃
𝒓

the magnetic field produced by this element at point p, a distance r from the
current element is given by

The total field at P can be obtained by integrating equation (1), thus

Equation (2) is known as Biot-Savart’s law and is very useful in calculating the
magnetic field for various configurations of electric current.
Simple examples include:

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 (a) The magnetic field B at a distance r from a long straight wire carrying
current is

(b) The magnetic field at the center of a solenoid is

(c) The magnetic field at the end of a long solenoid is

Where N is the total number of turns and L is the length of the solenoid.
(d) The magnetic field at the center of a current loop is

Where N, is number of loops and r the radius of each loop.

Example 1

Calculate the magnetic field B at a point, 15cm from a long straight wire

carrying a steady current 1 = 25A.

Solution.

Using equation

Example 2

What is the magnetic field at the centre of 10-loop coil of wire of radius

r = 10cm and carrying a current I=15A?

Solution.

From equation

Example 3

Calculate the current flowing through a solenoid of length 100cm and with 100

turns of wire if the magnetic field at its centre is 10-4 T.

From equation

18
 ⁄

AMPERE'S LAW

Ampere's law states that the line integral of the magnetic field around a
closed curve equals times the total current through any surface bounded by
the curve.

Mathematically,

∮ ⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗

If ⃗ is arbitrary drawn at an angle to the direction of , the scalar product

⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗ on the left side of equation 1, is then equal to,

∮ ⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∮

Ampere's law is valid only for steady current. Furthermore, Amperes law is
useful only for calculating the magnetic field of current configurations with a
high degree of symmetry, just as Guass law is useful for calculating the electric
field of high symmetric charge distributions

We shall now apply Ampere's law to two situations in which symmetry allows us
to simplify and solve the integral, hence to find the magnetic field.

1. The field of a long wire

A long, straight wire of radius carries a steady current that is uniformly

distributed through the cross section of the wire, as shown below. Calculate the
magnetic field at a distance from the centre of the wire in the region
and

𝐼
1

𝑎
2

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SOLUTION

In the region , where r a, let us choose a circular path of radius centered

at the wire, from symmetry, we see that must be constant in magnitude and
parallel to at every point on the path, since the total current linked by path 1
is , Amperes law applied to the path gives:

∮ ∮ ( )

( ) .

Now consider region 2 (the interior of the wire ) where Here, note that
the current enclosed by the path of radius must be equal to the ratio
of the area enclosed by path 2 and cross sectional area of the wire,
that is

Now applying Amperes law,

∮ ( ) ( )

( ) ( )

2. Magnetic field of a toroidal coil

The toroidal coil consists of an turn of wire wrapped around a doughnut -

shaped structure. Assuming that the turns are closely spaced, calculate the
magnetic field inside the coil, a distance from the centre.

𝐼
𝑟

20
SOLUTION

To calculate the field inside the coil, we evaluate the line integral of over
the circle of radius By symmetry, we see that the magnetic field is constant
in magnitude on this path and tangent to it, so that

Furthermore, note that the closed path threads loop of the wire, each of
which carries a current Therefore, the right side of Ampere's law is in
this case.

Ampere's law applied to this path then gives,

∮ ∮ ( )

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