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Revision notes
Chap 2 Electrostatic potential and capacitance
Topic 1
Electrostatic potential
Electric potential
 Electric potential is the amount of work done by an external force in
moving a unit positive charges from one point to another in electrostatic
field without producing an acceleration.
 It is written as V=
Where , W=work done in moving charge ,q through the field , q =charge
being move through the field.
 The SI unit of electric potential are

Potential difference
 Electric potential difference is defined as the amount of work done to
carrying a unit charge from one point to another in an electric field
Electric potential difference= =
Between two points A and B, =
Where , is potential difference between A and B.
 In a region of space having an electric field ,the work done by electric field
dw ,when positive point charge q ,is displaced by a distance ds , then ,
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 ⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗

∫ ⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗
= ∫ ⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗

Electric potential due to point charge

 The electric potential by point charge q , at a distance r from the

charge , can be written as

Where is permittivity of vaccum

 Electric potential is a scalar quantity

 Dimension of electric potential is [M ]
 For a single point charge q the potential difference between A and B is
given by
∫ ⃗⃗⃗ ⃗⃗⃗⃗ ∫ = ∫
Where , E is the field due to a point charge , ds = dr ,so that
∫ * + = * +
 If = , then = 0 so ,

Dipole and system of charges

 Electric dipole is two charged objects having equal but opposite

electric charges which are separated by a distance
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  The net potential due to a dipole at any point at distance r and
making an angle with the dipole moment p is given by ,
̂
(r

 Potential at a point due to system of charges is the sum of potentials due

to individual charges.
 In a system of charges q1 , q2 , q3, …… qn having positive vectors r1 , r2 r3,
…….rn relative to point P , the potential at point P due to total charge
configuration is algebraic sum of potentials due to individual charges , so
V = V1+V2+V3+……..Vn

( )

 It is known that in a uniformly charged spherical shell , electric potential

outside the shell is given as :
(r
Where q is total charge on shell and R is shell radius.

Equipotential surfaces
 Equipotential surface is the surface in space in which all point have same
potential.it requires no work to move the charge on such surface ,hence
the surface will have no E component , so E will be at right angle to the
surface.
 Work done in moving a charge at equipotential surface is zero
 Electric field is always perpendicular to equipotential surface.

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 Spacing among equipotential surface allows to locate region of string and
weak fields.
 Equipotential surfaces never intersect each other . if they intersect then
the intersecting point of two equipotential surfaces result in two values of
electric potential at that point , which is impossible
 Potential energy of a system of two charges
U
 Potential energy of a system of three charges

U ( )

 Potential energy of q at r in a external field

U=qv(⃗⃗⃗

Here , v(⃗⃗⃗ is the external potential at point r

 Potential energy due to two charges in an external field

U=q1V(⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ +q2V(⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ +

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  Potential energy of a dipole in an external field:

When a dipole of charge q1= +q and q2 = -q having separation ‘2a’ is

placed in an external field (⃗⃗⃗⃗

Here , p=2aq and is the angle between electric field and dipole.

Revision notes
Topic 2
Capacitance
Conductors and insulators
 Conductors are the ,materials through which charge can move freely

Examples :metals semimetals as carbon , graphite , arsenic etc.

 Insulators are materials in which the electrical current will not flow easily .

Such materials cannot be grounded and do not easily transfer electrons

examples :plastics and glass.

Dielectrics

 These are the material in which induce dipole moment is linearly

proportional to applied electric field
 Electrical displacement or electrical flux density D= E
Where =relative permittivity , =permittivity of free space and E is
electric field.

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  If dielectric is kept in between the plates of capacitor , capacitance
increases by factor (kappa) known as dielectric constant , so C=k
Where A = area
dielectric constant of material also called relative permittivity = =

Materials Dielectric constant ( Dielectric strength

( V/m
Air 1.0059 3
Paper 3.7 16
Pyrex glass 5.6 14
Water 80 -

Electric polarization
 Electric polarization polarization p is the difference between electric fields
D(induced) and E(imposed ) in dielectric due to bound and free charges
written as p=
 In terms of electric susceptibility : P= E
 In MKS : p= E
 The dielectric constant greater than 1 as 0

Capacitor
 A capacitor is a device which is used to store charge .
 Amount of charge ‘Q’ stored by the capacitor depends on voltage applied
and size of capacitor
 Capacitor consist of two similar conducting plates placed in front of each
other where one plate is connected to positive terminal while other plate
is connected to negative terminal
 Electric charge stored between plates of capacitor is directly proportional
to potential difference between plates that is
Q=CV

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 Where C=Capacitance of capacitor and v =potential difference between
the plates
 In capacitor , energy stored in the form of electrical energy in the space
between the plates

Capacitance
 Capacitance of a capacitor is ratio of magnitude of charge stored on the
plate to potential difference between the plates written as C=
Where C= capacitance , Q =charge in coulomb electric potential
difference in volts
 1F= =9 STAT FARAD,
 Capacitance of conductor depends upon shape size medium and other
conductor surrounding
 Parallel plate capacitor with dielectric charge among its plates has
capacitance which is given by:
C= ,
Where 8.85 F/m
 Capacitor having capacitance if 1 farad is too large for electronics
applications so components with lesser value of capacitance such as Micro
Pico are applied

Combination of capacitor in series and parallel

Capacitance in series

 If a no. of capacitor of capacitance C1 C2 C3………..Cn are connected in

series then there equivalent capacitance is given by:

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  In series combination , the charge on each capacitor is same , but the
potential difference on each capacitor depends on their respective
capacitance that is ,.
q1= q2=q3……………. = q
 If V1 , V2, V3 ……..Vn be the potential difference across the capacitor and V
be the emf of charging battery then
V = V1+V2+V3…..Vn
 As charge on each capacitor is same , therefore
q = V1C1=V2C2=V3C3…
The potential difference is inversely proportional to capacitance.
 In series , potential difference across largest capacitance is maximum
 The equivalent capacitance in series combination is less than the smallest
capacitance in combination.

Capacitor in parallel
 If a number of capacitors of capacitance C1 ,C2,C3 …………Cn are
connected in parallel then there equivalent capacitance is given by
=C1+C2+C3+………….Cn
 In a parallel combination the potential difference across each capacitor is
same and equal to emf of the charging battery that is
V1 = V2 = V3 = Vn = V

While the charge on different capacitor may be different ,

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  If q1 , q2 , q3 , …….. , qn be the charges on the different capacitors , then
q1 + q2 + q3 + ………qn =V
 As potential drop across each capacitor is same so
V= =
 the charges on capacitor are directly proportional to capacitance that q is
directly proportional to C
 force of attraction between parallel plate capacitor will be F= * + = QE
where Q is charge on capacitor.

Capacitance of parallel plate capacitor with and without dielectric

medium between the plates :
 Parallel plate capacitor is a capacitor with two identical plane parallel
plates separated by a small distance where space between them is filled
by dielectric medium .

 The electric field between two large parallel plates is given as:
E=
Where , = permittivity
Surface charge density

Where , Q =charge on plate and A =plate area

 Capacitance of parallel plate capacitor with area A separated by a distance
d is written as C=

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 If a dielectric slab is placed in between the plates of a capacitor, then its
capacitance will increased by certain amount
 Capacitance of parallel plate capacitor depends on plate area A distance d
between plates medium between plates and not on charge on plates or
potential difference between plates.
 If we have number of dielectric slab of same area as the plates of the
capacitor and thickness t1 ,t2 , t3. ….and dielectric constant

Between the plates then the capacitance of the capacitor is given by

Where d=t1 + t2+ t3+……

 If slab of conductor of thickness t is introduced between the plates , then

( ) ( )

 When the medium between the plates consist of slabs of same thickness
but areas A1 , A2 , A3,… and dielectric constant thenm the
capacitance is given by
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 When space between the plates is partly filled with medium of thickness t
and dielectric constant ,then capacitance will be

( )

When there is no medium between the plates , then

 Capacitance of spherical conductor of radius R in medium of dielectric

constant is given by
C=

Energy stored in a capacitor

 In capacitor , energy gets stored when a work is done on moving a positive
charge from negative conductor to positive conductor against the
repulsive forces

 Fig**
 Polar atom : atom in which positive and negative charges possess
asymmetric charge distribution about its centre
 Polarisation: the stretching of atoms of a dielectric slab under an applied
electric field .
 Dielectric strength: the maximum value of electric field that can be applied
to dielectric without its dielectric breakdown
 Dielectric : it is electrically insulated or non-conducting material
considered for its susceptibility.

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 Permittivity :It is a property of dielectric medium that shows the forces
which electric charges placed in medium exerts on each other .

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