ELECTRIC AND MAGNETIC FIELDS

ANSWERS TO ASSIGNMENT 5

Q1:

(a) Energy density of the electric field is


u E =
1
2
0
2
.

In this case, E is constant: E =100 V m
-1
u = 4.43 x 10
-8
J m
-3
.

(b) The total electric energy of the atmosphere is U
tot
= (Energy density)(Volume of the
atmosphere)

U
tot
= (Energy density)(Area of Earth's surface)(Height of ionosphere)

U
tot
= (4.43 x 10
-8
)[4(6.4 x 10
6
)
2
](1.2 x 10
5
) = 2.73 x 10
12
J.

Slightly more accurate calculation:

Vol. of atmosphere =
4
3
120
3 3
( ) ( ) R km R
E E
+ = 6.29 x 10
19
m
3
U
tot
= 2.79 x
10
12
J.

Q2: The energy of a system of point charges is

U Q V
tot i i
i
n
=
=

1
2
1
.

By symmetry,

All four charges are equal to Q, and they
all have the same energy. Therefore,

U
tot
= (1/2)(4)QV
1
=2QV
1


where V
1
is the potential at charge 1 (for
instance) due to all of the other charges.


V
1
has three contributions, from charges 2, 3, and 4: V
1
= V
12
+ V
13
+V
14


where V
12
= potential at position 1 due to the charge at position 2, etc.

V
12
= V
14


= Q/(4
o
a) V
13


= Q/(4
o
a2)
Ionosphere
Ground
120 km
E

a
a
Q
Q
Q
1 2
3
4
Q
2 a


30
10 for formula
5 for result
15 =10 for method
and 5 for result
8 for good
diagram
35
10 for getting
to here or equivalent
10 for knowing
what V
I
means
and expressing
it as three
contributions


So [ ] 2 4
a 4
Q
2
2
2 2
a 4
Q
a 4
Q
2 a 4
Q
a 4
Q
Q 2 U
0
2
0
2
0 0 0
tot
+

+ +

=

7 for
final
answer
Q3: (i) By spherical symmetry, the field lines are
radial.

E =0 inside the solid conducting sphere.

Field lines originate on positive charges on the
surface of the inner conductor, and terminate
on
negative charges on the inner surface of the
shell.

(ii) The energy density of the electric field is
given by

u =
0
E
2
J m
-3


The field in the region between the conductors is the same as for a point charge,
because the charge distribution is spherically symmetric:

E
Q
r
=
4
0
2

The energy density is therefore u E
Q
r
= =
1
2 32
0
2
2
2
0
2 4

(iii) The total energy is obtained by integrating this expression over the entire volume
between a and b. As the incremental volume element, choose a spherical shell
of radius r, thickness dr.

Volume of shell is d(Volume) = 4
r
2
dr

The energy contained in the shell is




dU u r d Volume
Q
r
r dr = = ( ) ( )
2
2
0
4
2
32
4




The total energy is obtained by integrating
this over the region in which E exists - i.e., between R
1
and R
2
.
Therefore

R
2
E
R
1

dr
Shell thickness
r
.

30
6 for good diagram
(note question doesnt
ask for explanation
3

3

3

8 for good
explanation
and
getting to
the integral

+

5 for
integrating
to get
to the
answer


-

=

b
1
a
1
8
Q
dr r
8
Q
U
0
2
2
b
a
0
2
tot
U
Q b a
ab
tot
=

2
0
8


(iv) If b >>a then
a 8
Q
U
0
2
tot

= formula derived in the lectures for total

electric energy of an isolated conducting sphere of radius a.

2

Q4:










.If E is conservative, then

= 0 d L E (or

P
0
d L . E is the same for paths A and B).
We can integrate L E d around the square loop. Splitting the integral into four sections,
we can see from the filed pattern that:

Sections 1 and 4 : E and L d are perpendicular L E d = 0
Section 2 : The x component of E is parallel to L d L E d is
positive
Section 3 : The y component of E is anti-parallel to L d L E d is
negative

0 x as 0 d )

bx d )

bx

ay d
d d d d d
= y j ( y j i ( L E
L E L E L E L E L E
1
4 3 2 1
= = + =
+ + + =




dx d

and L y as dx aL aLdx d )

aL d )

ay d )

bx

ay d = x i = = = x i ( x i ( x j i ( L E
2
= = + =


The length of the path is L, so
2
2
aL d L E =

dy d

and L x as dy bL bLdy d ).

bL ( d ).

bx d )

bx

ay d
3
= y j = - = - = y j y j ( y j i ( L E = = + =

The length of this path is L, so
2
2
bL d =

L E
Difficult some
may get this as positive.
Dont penalise harshly
5
L
L
0
Y
1
2
3
4
X
L
L
0
Y
A
B
X
E
It is very useful
to draw the
electric field
vector at various
positions, as
shown
~3 for having the right idea
~2 for all the details

0 y as 0 d )

ay d )

bx

ay d = x i ( - x j i ( L E
4
= = + =



Therefore