Unit I

Static Electric Fields

Electromagnetic field
A changing magnetic field always produces an electric field, and conversely, a changing
electric field always produces a magnetic field. This interaction of electric and magnetic
forces gives rise to a condition in space known as an electromagnetic field. The
characteristics of an electromagnetic field are expressed mathematically by Maxwell's
equation.
Vector
A directed line segment. As such, vectors have magnitude and direction. Many physical
quantities, for example, velocity, acceleration, and force, are vectors.
Cross product
the Cross Product is a binary operation on two vectors in a three-dimensional Euclidean
space that results in another vector which is perpendicular to the two input vectors. By
contrast, the dot product produces a scalar result. In many engineering and physics
problems, it is handy to be able to construct a perpendicular vector from two existing
vectors, and the cross product provides a means for doing so. The cross product is also
known as the vector product, or Gibbs vector product.
The cross product is not defined except in three-dimensions (and the algebra defined by
the cross product is not associative). Like the dot product, it depends on the metric of
Euclidean space. Unlike the dot product, it also depends on the choice of orientation or
"handedness". Certain features of the cross product can be generalized to other situations.
For arbitrary choices of orientation, the cross product must be regarded not as a vector,
but as a pseudovector. For arbitrary choices of metric, and in arbitrary dimensions, the
cross product can be generalized by the exterior product of vectors, defining a two-form
instead of a vector.

Fig 1.1 Illustration of the cross-product in respect to a right-handed coordinate system.

Fig 1.2 Finding the direction of the cross product by the right-hand rule.
The cross product of two vectors a and b is denoted by a b. In a three-dimensional
Euclidean space, with a usual right-handed coordinate system, it is defined as a vector c
that is perpendicular to both a and b, with a direction given by the right-hand rule and a
magnitude equal to the area of the parallelogram that the vectors span.
The cross product is given by the formula

where is the measure of the angle between a and b (0 180), a and b are the
magnitudes of vectors a and b, and
is a unit vector perpendicular to the plane
containing a and b. If the vectors a and b are collinear (i.e., the angle between them is
either 0 or 180), by the above formula, the cross product of a and b is the zero vector 0.
The direction of the vector is given by the right-hand rule, where one simply points the
forefinger of the right hand in the direction of a and the middle finger in the direction of
b. Then, the vector is coming out of the thumb (see the picture on the right).
Using the cross product requires the handedness of the coordinate system to be taken into
account (as explicit in the definition above). If a left-handed coordinate system is used,
the direction of the vector is given by the left-hand rule and points in the opposite
direction.
Dot product
The dot product, also known as the scalar product, is an operation which takes two
vectors over the real numbers R and returns a real-valued scalar quantity.

where
|a| and |b| denote the length (magnitude) of a and b
is the angle between them.
Since |a|cos() is the scalar projection of a onto b, the dot product can be understood
geometrically as the product of this projection with the length of b.
|a|cos() is the scalar projection of a onto b
Coordinate System
A coordinate system is a mathematical language that is used to describe geometrical
objects analytically
A cartesian coordinate system is one of the simplest and most useful systems of
coordinates. It is constructed by choosing a point O designated as the origin. Through it
three intersecting directed lines OX, OY, OZ, the coordinate axes, are constructed. The
coordinates of a point P are x, the distance of P from the plane YOZ measured parallel to
OX, and y and z, which are determined similarly (Fig. 1). Usually the three axes are taken
to be mutually perpendicular, in which case the system is a rectangular cartesian one.
Obviously a similar construction can be made in the plane, in which case a point has two
coordinates (x,y).

fig 1.3 Cartesian coordinate system.

Cylindrical Coordinate System

The cylindrical coordinate system is a three-dimensional coordinate system which
essentially extends circular polar coordinates by adding a third coordinate (usually
denoted h) which measures the height of a point above the plane.
A point P is given as (r,,h). In terms of the Cartesian coordinate system:

r is the distance from O to P', the orthogonal projection of the point P onto the XY
plane. This is the same as the distance of P to the z-axis.
is the angle between the positive x-axis and the line OP', measured
counterclockwise.
h is the same as z.
Thus, the conversion function f from cylindrical coordinates to Cartesian
coordinates is

Fig 1.4 :A point plotted with cylindrical coordinates

Spherical Coordinates
The three coordinates (, , ) are defined as:

0 is the distance from the origin to a given point P.

0 2 is the angle between the positive x-axis and the line from the origin to
the P projected onto the xy-plane.
0 is the angle between the positive z-axis and the line formed between the
origin and P.

is referred to as the azimuth, while is referred to as the zenith, colatitude or polar

angle.

 and and lose significance when = 0 and loses significance when sin() = 0 (at =
0 and = 180).
To plot a point from its spherical coordinates, go units from the origin along the
positive z-axis, rotate about the y-axis in the direction of the positive x-axis and rotate
about the z-axis in the direction of the positive y-axis.
Coordinate system conversions
As the spherical coordinate system is only one of many three-dimensional coordinate
systems, there exist equations for converting coordinates between the spherical
coordinate system and others.
Cartesian coordinate system
The three spherical coordinates are obtained from Cartesian coordinates by:

Note that the arctangent must be defined suitably so as to take account of the correct
quadrant of y / x. The atan2 or equivalent function accomplishes this for computational
purposes.
Conversely, Cartesian coordinates may be retrieved from spherical coordinates by:

Divergence of a Vector Field:

In study of vector fields, directed line segments, also called flux lines or streamlines,
represent field variations graphically. The intensity of the field is proportional to the density of
lines. For example, the number of flux lines passing through a unit surface S normal to the
vector measures the vector field strength.

Fig 1.5: Flux Lines

We have already defined flux of a vector field as

....................................................(1.1)
For a volume enclosed by a surface,

.........................................................................................(1.2)
We define the divergence of a vector field at a point P as the net outward flux from a
volume enclosing P, as the volume shrinks to zero.

.................................................................(1.3)
Here

is the volume that encloses P and S is the corresponding closed surface.

Let us consider a differential volume centered on point P(u,v,w) in a vector field

through an elementary area normal to u is given by ,
........................................(1.4)

. The flux

Net outward flux along u can be calculated considering the two elementary surfaces perpendicular to u .

.......................................(1.5)
Considering the contribution from all six surfaces that enclose the volume, we can write

.......................................(1.6)

Hence for the Cartesian, cylindrical and spherical polar coordinate system, the expressions for divergence can be
written as:
In Cartesian coordinates:

................................(1.7)

Fig 1.6 Evaluation of divergence in curvilinear coordinate

In cylindrical coordinates:

....................................................................(1.8)

and in spherical polar coordinates:

......................................(1.9)
In connection with the divergence of a vector field, the following can be noted

Divergence of a vector field gives a scalar.

..............................................................................(1.10)

Divergence theorem :

Divergence theorem states that the volume integral of the divergence of vector field is equal
to the net outward flux of the vector through the closed surface that bounds the volume.
Mathematically,
Proof:
Let us consider a volume V enclosed by a surface S . Let us subdivide the volume in large
number of cells. Let the kth cell has a volume
and the corresponding surface is denoted
by Sk. Interior to the volume, cells have common surfaces. Outward flux through these
common surfaces from one cell becomes the inward flux for the neighboring cells. Therefore
when the total flux from these cells are considered, we actually get the net outward flux
through the surface surrounding the volume. Hence we can write:

......................................(1.11)
In the limit, that is when
written as

Hence we get

and

the right hand of the expression can be

, which is the divergence theorem.

Curl of a vector field:

We have defined the circulation of a vector field A around a closed path as

Curl of a vector field is a measure of the vector field's tendency to rotate about a point. Curl
, also written as
is defined as a vector whose magnitude is maximum of the net
circulation per unit area when the area tends to zero and its direction is the normal direction
to the area when the area is oriented in such a way so as to make the circulation maximum.
Therefore, we can write:

......................................(1.12)
To derive the expression for curl in generalized curvilinear coordinate system, we first
compute

and to do so let us consider the figure 1.7:

Fig 1.7 Curl of a Vector

If C1 represents the boundary of

, then we can write

......................................(1.13)

The integrals on the RHS can be evaluated as follows:

.................................(1.14)

................................................(1.15)
The negative sign is because of the fact that the direction of traversal reverses. Similarly,

..................................................(1.16)

............................................................................(1.17)
Adding the contribution from all components, we can write:

........................................................................(1.18)

Therefore,

In the same manner if we compute for

......................................................(1.19)

and

we can write,

.......(1.20)
This can be written as,

......................................................(1.21)

In Cartesian coordinates:

.......................................(1.22)

In Cylindrical coordinates,

....................................(1.23)

In Spherical polar coordinates,

..............(1.24)

Curl operation exhibits the following properties:

..............(1.25)
Stoke's theorem :
It states that the circulation of a vector field

around a closed path is equal to the integral of

over the surface bounded by this path. It may be noted that this equality holds
provided

and

are continuous on the surface.

i.e,

..............(1.26)

Proof:Let us consider an area S that is subdivided into large number of cells as shown in the
figure 1.8

Fig 1.8 Stokes theorem

Let kthcell has surface area

and is bounded path Lk while the total area is
bounded by path L. As seen from the figure that if we evaluate the sum of the line
integrals around the elementary areas, there is cancellation along every interior
path and we are left the line integral along path L. Therefore we can write,

..............(1.27)
As

.............(1.28)

which is the stoke's theorem.

Coulomb's Law
Coulomb's Law may be stated as follows:
"The magnitude of the electrostatic force between two point charges is directly
proportional to the magnitudes of each charge and inversely proportional to the square
of the distance between the charges."
Coulomb's law states that the electrical force between two charged objects is directly
proportional to the product of the quantity of charge on the objects and inversely

proportional to the square of the separation distance between the two objects. In equation
form, Coulomb's law can be stated as

(1.29)
where Q1 represents the quantity of charge on object 1 (in Coulombs), Q2 represents the
quantity of charge on object 2 (in Coulombs), and d represents the distance of separation
between the two objects (in meters). The symbol k is a proportionality constant known as
the Coulomb's law constant. The value of this constant is dependent upon the medium
that the charged objects are immersed in.

Mathematically,

,where k is the proportionality constant.

In SI units, Q1 and Q2 are expressed in Coulombs(C) and R is in meters.

Force F is in Newtons (N) and

is called the permittivity of free space.

(We are assuming the charges are in free space. If the charges are any other dielectric
medium, we will use
instead where
dielectric constant of the medium).

Therefore

is called the relative permittivity or the

.......................(1.30)

As shown in the Figure 2.1 let the position vectors of the point charges Q1and Q2 are given
by

and

. Let

represent the force on Q1 due to charge Q2.

Fig 1.9: Coulomb's Law

The charges are separated by a distance of

. We define the unit vectors

as

and

..................................(1.31)

can be defined as

. ..(1.32)
Similarly the force on Q1 due to charge Q2 can be calculated and if

represents this force

then we can write

When we have a number of point charges, to determine the force on a particular charge due
to all other charges, we apply principle of superposition. If we have N number of charges
Q1,Q2,.........QN located respectively at the points represented by the position vectors
,......

, the force experienced by a charge Q located at

is given by,

.................................(1.33)
Electric Field
The electric field intensity or the electric field strength at a point is defined as the force per
unit charge. That is

or,

.......................................(1.34)

The electric field intensity E at a point r (observation point) due a point charge Q located at
(source point) is given by:

..........................................(1.35)

For a collection of N point charges Q1 ,Q2 ,.........QN located at

obtained as

,......

, the electric field intensity at point

........................................(1.36)
The expression (2.6) can be modified suitably to
compute the electric filed due to a continuous
distribution of charges.
In figure 1.10we consider a continuous volume
distribution of charge (t) in the region denoted as the
source region.
For an elementary charge
, i.e.
considering this charge as point charge, we can write
the field expression as:
Fig1.10: Continuous Volume Distribution

.............(2.7)
When this expression is integrated over the source region, we get the electric field at the
point P due to this distribution of charges. Thus the expression for the electric field at P can
be written as:

..........................................(1.37)
Similar technique can be adopted when the charge distribution is in the form of a line charge
density or a surface charge density.

........................................(1.38)

........................................(1.39)

is

Electric field strength

Electric field strength is a vector quantity; it has both magnitude and direction. The
magnitude of the electric field strength is defined in terms of how it is measured. Let's
suppose that an electric charge can be denoted by the
symbol Q. This electric charge creates an electric field;
since Q is the source of the electric field, we will refer to
it as the source charge. The strength of the source
charge's electric field could be measured by any other
charge placed somewhere in its surroundings. The charge
that is used to measure the electric field strength is referred to as a test charge since it is
used to test the field strength. The test charge has a quantity of charge denoted by the
symbol q. When placed within the electric field, the test charge will experience an
electric force - either attractive or repulsive. As is usually the case, this force will be
denoted by the symbol F. The magnitude of the electric field is simply defined as the
force per charge on the test charge.

If the electric field strength is denoted by the symbol E, then the equation can be
rewritten in symbolic form as

.
The standard metric units on electric field strength arise from its definition. Since electric
field is defined as a force per charge, its units would be force units divided by charge
units. In this case, the standard metric units are Newton/Coulomb or N/C.
Electric Field Lines
The magnitude or strength of an electric field in the space surrounding a source charge is
related directly to the quantity of charge on the source charge and inversely to the
distance from the source charge. The direction of the electric field is always directed in
the direction that a positive test charge would be pushed or pulled if placed in the space
surrounding the source charge. Since electric field is a vector quantity, it can be
represented by a vector arrow. For any given location, the arrows point in the direction of
the electric field and their length is proportional to the strength of the electric field at that
location. Such vector arrows are shown in the diagram below. Note that the length of the
arrows are longer when closer to the source charge and shorter when further from the
source charge.

A more useful means of visually representing the vector nature of an electric field is
through the use of electric field lines of force. Rather than draw countless vector arrows
in the space surrounding a source charge, it is perhaps more useful to draw a pattern of
several lines which extend between infinity and the source charge. These pattern of lines,
sometimes referred to as electric field lines, point in the direction which a positive test
charge would accelerate if placed upon the line. As such, the lines are directed away from
positively charged source charges and toward negatively charged source charges. To
communicate information about the direction of the field, each line must include an
arrowhead which points in the appropriate direction. An electric field line pattern could
include an infinite number of lines. Because drawing such large quantities of lines tends
to decrease the readability of the patterns, the number of lines are usually limited. The
presence of a few lines around a charge is typically sufficient to convey the nature of the
electric field in the space surrounding the lines.

Electric Fields and Conductors

Electrostatic equilibrium is the condition established by charged conductors in which
the excess charge has optimally distanced itself so as to reduce the total amount of
repulsive forces. Once a charged conductor has reached the state of electrostatic
equilibrium, there is no further motion of charge about the surface.

Electric Fields Inside of Charged Conductors

Charged conductors which have reached electrostatic equilibrium share a variety of
unusual characteristics. One characteristic of a conductor at electrostatic equilibrium is
that the electric field anywhere beneath the surface of a charged conductor is zero. If an
electric field did exist beneath the surface of a conductor (and inside of it), then the
electric field would exert a force on all electrons that were present there. This net force
would begin to accelerate and move these electrons. But objects at electrostatic
equilibrium have no further motion of charge about the surface. So if this were to occur,
then the original claim that the object was at electrostatic equilibrium would be a false
claim. If the electrons within a conductor have assumed an equilibrium state, then the net
force upon those electrons is zero. The electric field lines either begin or end upon a
charge and in the case of a conductor, the charge exists solely upon its outer surface. The
lines extend from this surface outward, not inward. This of course presumes that our
conductor does not surround a region of space where there was another charge.
To illustrate this characteristic, let's consider the space between and inside of two
concentric, conducting cylinders of different radii as shown in the diagram at the right.
The outer cylinder is charged positively. The inner cylinder is
charged negatively. The electric field about the inner cylinder
is directed towards the negatively charged cylinder. Since this
cylinder does not surround a region of space where there is
another charge, it can be concluded that the excess charge
resides solely upon the outer surface of this inner cylinder. The
electric field inside the inner cylinder would be zero. When
drawing electric field lines, the lines would be drawn from the
inner surface of the outer cylinder to the outer surface of the
inner cylinder. For the excess charge on the outer cylinder, there is more to consider than
merely the repulsive forces between charges on its surface. While the excess charge on
the outer cylinder seeks to reduce repulsive forces between its excess charge, it must
balance this with the tendency to be attracted to the negative charges on the inner
cylinder. Since the outer cylinder surrounds a region which is charged, the characteristic
of charge residing on the outer surface of the conductor does not apply.
This concept of the electric field being zero inside of a closed conducting surface was
first demonstrated by Michael Faraday, a 19th century physicist who promoted the field
theory of electricity. Faraday constructed a room within a room, covering the inner room
with a metal foil. He sat inside the inner room with an electroscope and charged the
surfaces of the outer and inner room using an electrostatic generator. While sparks were
seen flying between the walls of the two rooms, there was no detection of an electric field
within the inner room. The excess charge on the walls of the inner room resided entirely
upon the outer surface of the room.
The inner room with the conducting frame which protected Faraday from the static
charge is now referred to as a Faraday's cage. The cage serves to shield whomever and
whatever is on the inside from the influence of electric fields. Any closed, conducting
surface can serve as a Faraday's cage, shielding whatever it surrounds from the

potentially damaging affects of electric fields. This principle of shielding is commonly

utilized today as we protect delicate electrical equipment by enclosing them in metal
cases. Even delicate computer chips and other components are shipped inside of
conducting plastic packaging which shields the chips from potentially damaging affects
of electric fields.
Electric Fields are Perpendicular to Charged Surfaces
A second characteristic of conductors at electrostatic equilibrium is that the electric field
upon the surface of the conductor is directed entirely perpendicular to the surface. There
cannot be a component of electric field (or electric force) that is parallel to the surface. If
the conducting object is spherical, then this means that the perpendicular electric field
vector are aligned with the center of the sphere. If the object is irregularly shaped, then
the electric field vector at any location is perpendicular to a tangent line drawn to the
surface at that location.
Understanding why this characteristic is true demands an understanding of vectors, force
and motion. The motion of electrons, like any physical object, is governed by Newton's
laws. One outcome of Newton's laws was that unbalanced forces cause objects to
accelerate in the direction of the unbalanced force and a balance of forces cause objects
to remain at equilibrium. This truth provides the foundation for the rationale behind why
electric fields must be directed perpendicular to the surface of conducting objects. If there
were a component of electric field directed parallel to the surface, then the excess charge
on the surface would be forced into accelerated motion by this component. If a charge is
set into motion, then the object upon which it is on is not in a state of electrostatic
equilibrium. Therefore, the electric field must be entirely perpendicular to the conducting
surface for objects which are at electrostatic equilibrium. Certainly a conducting object
which has recently acquired an excess charge has a component of electric field (and
electric force) parallel to the surface; it is this component which acts upon the newly
acquired excess charge to distribute the excess charge over the surface and establish
electrostatic equilibrium. But once reached, there is no longer any parallel component of
electric field and no longer any motion of excess charge.

Electric Fields and Surface Curvature

A third characteristic of conducting objects at electrostatic equilibrium is that the electric
fields are strongest at locations along the surface where the object is most curved. The
curvature of a surface can range from absolute flatness on one extreme to being curved to
a blunt point on the other extreme.

A flat location has no curvature and is characterized by relatively weak electric fields. On
the other hand, a blunt point has a high degree of curvature and is characterized by
relatively strong electric fields. A sphere is uniformly shaped with the same curvature at
every location along its surface. As such, the electric field strength on the surface of a
sphere is everywhere the same.
To understand the rationale for this third characteristic, we will consider an irregularly
shaped object which is negatively charged. Such an object has an excess of electrons.
These electrons would distribute themselves in such a manner as to reduce the affect of
their repulsive forces. Since electrostatic forces vary inversely with the
square of the distance, these electrons would tend to position themselves
so as to increase their distance from one another. On a regularly shaped
sphere, the ultimate distance between every neighboring electron would
be the same. But on an irregularly shaped object, excess electrons would
tend to accumulate in greater density along locations of greatest
curvature. Consider the diagram at the right. Electrons A and B are
located along a flatter section of the surface. Like all well-behaved
electrons, they repel each other. The repulsive forces are directed along a
line connecting charge to charge, making the repulsive force primarily parallel to the
surface. On the other hand, electrons C and D are located along a section of the surface
with a sharper curvature. These excess electrons also repel each other with a force
directed along a line connecting charge to charge. But now the force is directed at a
sharper angle to the surface. The components of these forces parallel to the surface are
considerably less. A majority of the repulsive force between electrons C and D is directed
perpendicular to the surface.
The parallel components of these repulsive forces is what causes excess electrons to
move along the surface of the conductor. The electrons will move and distribute
themselves until electrostatic equilibrium is reached. Once reached, the resultant of all
parallel components on any given excess electron (and on all excess electrons) will add
up to zero. All the parallel components of force on each of the electrons must be zero
since the net force parallel to the surface of the conductor is always zero (the second
characteristic discussed above). For the same separation distance, the parallel component

of force is greatest in the case of electrons A and B. So to acquire this balance of parallel
forces, electrons A and B must distance themselves further from each other than electrons
C and D. Electrons C and D on the other hand can crowd closer together at their location
since that the parallel component of repulsive forces is less. In the end, a relatively large
quantity of charge accumulates on the locations of greatest curvature. This larger quantity
of charge combined with the fact that their repulsive forces are primarily directed
perpendicular to the surface results in a considerably stronger electric field at such
locations of increased curvature.

The fact that surfaces which are sharply curved to a blunt edge create strong electric
fields is the underlying principle for the use of lightning rods.
Electric scalar Potential
In the previous sections we have seen how the electric field
intensity due to a charge or a charge distribution can be found
using Coulomb's law or Gauss's law. Since a charge placed in the
vicinity of another charge (or in other words in the field of other
charge) experiences a force, the movement of the charge
represents energy exchange. Electrostatic potential is related to the
work done in carrying a charge from one point to the other in the
presence of an electric field.
Let us suppose that we wish to move a positive test charge
from a point P to another point Q as shown in the Fig. 1.11
The force at any point along its path would cause the particle to
accelerate and move it out of the region if unconstrained. Since we
are dealing with an electrostatic case, a force equal to the negative
of that acting on the charge is to be applied while
moves from P
to Q. The work done by this external agent in moving the charge by
a distance

is given by:

Fig 1.11 Movement of Test Charge in Electric

Field

.............................(1.40)

The negative sign accounts for the fact that work is done on the system by the external
agent.

.....................................(1.41)
The potential difference between two points P and Q , VPQ, is defined as the work done per
unit charge, i.e.

...............................(1.42)
It may be noted that in moving a charge from the initial point to the final point if the potential
difference is positive, there is a gain in potential energy in the movement, external agent
performs the work against the field. If the sign of the potential difference is negative, work is
done by the field.
We will see that the electrostatic system is conservative in that no net energy is exchanged if
the test charge is moved about a closed path, i.e. returning to its initial position. Further, the
potential difference between two points in an electrostatic field is a point function; it is
independent of the path taken. The potential difference is measured in Joules/Coulomb
which is referred to as Volts.
Let us consider a point charge Q as shown in the Fig. 1.12

Fig 1.12 Electrostatic Potential calculation for a point charge

Further consider the two points A and B as shown in the Fig.1.12. Considering the movement
of a unit positive test charge from B to A , we can write an expression for the potential
difference as:

..................................(1.43)
It is customary to choose the potential to be zero at infinity. Thus potential at any point ( rA =
r) due to a point charge Q can be written as the amount of work done in bringing a unit
positive charge from infinity to that point (i.e. rB = 0).

..................................(1.44)
Or, in other words,

..................................(1.45)
Let us now consider a situation where the point charge Q is not located at the origin as
shown in Fig. 1.13.

Fig 1.13: Electrostatic Potential due a Displaced Charge

The potential at a point P becomes

..................................(1.46)
So far we have considered the potential due to point charges only. As any other type of
charge distribution can be considered to be consisting of point charges, the same basic
ideas now can be extended to other types of charge distribution also.

Let us first consider N point charges Q1, Q2,.....QN located at points with position vectors
,......

. The potential at a point having position vector

can be written as:

..................................(1.47)

or,

...........................................................(1.48)

For continuous charge distribution, we replace point charges Qn by corresponding charge

elements
or
or
depending on whether the charge distribution is linear,
surface or a volume charge distribution and the summation is replaced by an integral. With
these modifications we can write:

For line charge,

..................................(1.49)

For surface charge,

.................................(1.50)

For volume charge,

.................................(1.51)

It may be noted here that the primed coordinates represent the source coordinates and the
unprimed coordinates represent field point.
Further, in our discussion so far we have used the reference or zero potential at infinity. If
any other point is chosen as reference, we can write:

.................................(1.52)
where C is a constant. In the same manner when potential is computed from a known
electric field we can write:

.................................(1.53)
The potential difference is however independent of the choice of reference.

.......................(1.54)
We have mentioned that electrostatic field is a conservative field; the work done in moving a
charge from one point to the other is independent of the path. Let us consider moving a
charge from point P1 to P2 in one path and then from point P2 back to P1 over a different path.
If the work done on the two paths were different, a net positive or negative amount of work
would have been done when the body returns to its original position P1. In a conservative
field there is no mechanism for dissipating energy corresponding to any positive work neither
any source is present from which energy could be absorbed in the case of negative work.
Hence the question of different works in two paths is untenable, the work must have to be
independent of path and depends on the initial and final positions.
Since the potential difference is independent of the paths taken, VAB = - VBA , and over a
closed path,

.................................(1.55)
Applying Stokes's theorem, we can write:

............................(1.56)
from which it follows that for electrostatic field,
........................................(1.57)
Any vector field

that satisfies

is called an irrotational field.

From our definition of potential, we can write

.................................(1.58)
from which we obtain,
..........................................(1.59)

From the foregoing discussions we observe that the electric field strength at any point is the negative of the poten

gradient at any point, negative sign shows that is directed from higher to lower values of . This gives us anot
method of computing the electric field, i. e. if we know the potential function, the electric field may be computed. W
may note here that that one scalar function

contain all the information that three components of

possible because of the fact that three components of

Example: Electric Dipole

are interrelated by the relation

An electric dipole consists of

two point charges of equal
magnitude but of opposite sign
and separated by a small
distance.
As shown in figure 1.14, the
dipole is formed by the two
point charges Q and -Q
separated by a distance d , the
charges being placed
symmetrically about the origin.
Let us consider a point P at a
distance r, where we are
interested to find the field.
The potential at P due to the dipole can be written as:

Fig 1.14 : Electric Dipole

..........................(1.60)

When r1 and r2>>d, we can write

and

Therefore,

....................................................(1.62)
We can write,
...............................................(1.63)
The quantity

is called the dipole moment of the electric dipole.

Hence the expression for the electric potential can now be written as:

................................(1.64)

carry, the sa

It may be noted that while potential of an isolated charge varies with distance as 1/r that of
an electric dipole varies as 1/r2 with distance.
If the dipole is not centered at the origin, but the dipole center lies at
the potential can be written as:

, the expression for

........................(1.65)
The electric field for the dipole centered at the origin can be computed as

........................(1.66)
is the magnitude of the dipole moment. Once again we note that the electric field of
electric dipole varies as 1/r3 where as that of a point charge varies as 1/r2.
Electric flux density:
As stated earlier electric field intensity or simply Electric field' gives the strength of the field
at a particular point. The electric field depends on the material media in which the field is
being considered. The flux density vector is defined to be independent of the material media
(as we'll see that it relates to the charge that is producing it).For a linear

isotropic medium under consideration; the flux density vector is defined as:
................................................(1.67)
We define the electric flux as

.....................................(1.68)
Gauss's Law: Gauss's law is one of the fundamental laws of electromagnetism and it states
that the total electric flux through a closed surface is equal to the total charge enclosed by
the surface.

Fig 1.15 Gauss's Law

Let us consider a point charge Q located in an isotropic homogeneous medium of dielectric
constant . The flux density at a distance r on a surface enclosing the charge is given by

...............................................(1.69)
If we consider an elementary area ds, the amount of flux passing through the elementary
area is given by

.....................................(1.70)

But

, is the elementary solid angle subtended by the area

at the location of

Q. Therefore we can write

For a closed surface enclosing the charge, we can write

which can seen to be same as what we have stated in the definition of Gauss's Law.
Application of Gauss's Law
Gauss's law is particularly useful in computing or where the charge distribution has
some symmetry. We shall illustrate the application of Gauss's Law with some examples.
1.An infinite line charge
As the first example of illustration of use of Gauss's law, let consider the problem of
determination of the electric field produced by an infinite line charge of density LC/m. Let us
consider a line charge positioned along the z-axis as shown in Fig.1.16(a) (next slide). Since
the line charge is assumed to be infinitely long, the electric field will be of the form as shown
in Fig. 2.4(b) (next slide).

If we consider a close cylindrical surface as shown in Fig.1.16(a), using Gauss's theorm we

can write,

.....................................(1.71)
Considering the fact that the unit normal vector to areas S1 and S3 are perpendicular to the
electric field, the surface integrals for the top and bottom surfaces evaluates to zero. Hence
we can write,

Fig 1.16 Infinite Line Charge

.....................................(1.72)

2. Infinite Sheet of Charge

As a second example of application of Gauss's
theorem, we consider an infinite charged sheet
covering the x-z plane as shown in figure 1.17
Assuming a surface charge density of
for the
infinite surface charge, if we consider a cylindrical
volume having sides
can write:

placed symmetrically , we

..............(1.73)

Fig1.17: Infinite Sheet of Charge

It may be noted that the electric field strength is independent of distance. This is true for the infinite plane of
charge; electric lines of force on either side of the charge will be perpendicular to the sheet and extend to
infinity as parallel lines. As number of lines of force per unit area gives the strength of the field, the field
becomes independent of distance. For a finite charge sheet, the field will be a function of distance.

3. Uniformly Charged Sphere

Let us consider a sphere of radius r0 having a
uniform volume charge density of v C/m3. To
determine
everywhere, inside and outside the
sphere, we construct Gaussian surfaces of radius r <
r0 and r > r0 as shown in Fig. 1.18(a) and Fig.1.18(b).
For the region
be

; the total enclosed charge will

Fig 1.18 Uniformly Charged Sphere

.........................(1.74)
By applying Gauss's theorem,

...............(1.75)

Therefore

...............................................(1.76)
For the region

; the total enclosed charge will be

....................................................................(1.77)
By applying Gauss's theorem,

.....................................................(1.78)

Unit II Static Magnetic Field

Introduction :

In previous chapters we have seen that an electrostatic field is produced by static or

stationary charges. The relationship of the steady magnetic field to its sources is much more
complicated.
The source of steady magnetic field may be a permanent magnet, a direct current or an
electric field changing with time. In this chapter we shall mainly consider the magnetic field
produced by a direct current. The magnetic field produced due to time varying electric field
will be discussed later. Historically, the link between the electric and magnetic field was
established Oersted in 1820. Ampere and others extended the investigation of magnetic
effect of electricity . There are two major laws governing the magnetostatic fields are:

Biot-Savart Law
Ampere's Law

Usually, the magnetic field intensity is represented by the vector

. It is customary to
represent the direction of the magnetic field intensity (or current) by a small circle with a dot
or cross sign depending on whether the field (or current) is out of or into the page as shown
in Fig. 2.1.

(or l ) out of the page

(or l ) into the page

Fig. 2.1: Representation of magnetic field (or current)

Biot- Savart Law
This law relates the magnetic field intensity dH produced at a point due to a differential
current element

as shown in Fig. 2.2.

Fig. 2.2: Magnetic field intensity due to a current element

The magnetic field intensity

at P can be written as,

............................(2.1a)

..............................................(2.1b)

where

is the distance of the current element from the point P.

Similar to different charge distributions, we can have different current distribution such as line
current, surface current and volume current. These different types of current densities are
shown in Fig. 2.3.

Line Current

Surface Current

Fig. 2.3: Different types of current distributions

Volume Current

By denoting the surface current density as K (in amp/m) and volume current density as J (in
amp/m2) we can write:
......................................(2.2)
( It may be noted that

Employing Biot-Savart Law, we can now express the magnetic field intensity H. In terms of
these
current
distributions.

.............................

for

line

current............................(2.3a)

........................ for surface current ....................(2.3b)

....................... for volume current......................(2.3c)

To illustrate the application of Biot - Savart's Law, we consider the following example.
Example 2.1: We consider a finite length of a conductor carrying a current placed along zaxis as shown in the Fig 2.4. We determine the magnetic field at point P due to this current
carrying conductor.

Fig. 2.4: Field at a point P due to a finite length current carrying conductor
With reference to Fig. 2.4, we find that
..........................................(2.4)
Applying Biot - Savart's law for the current element

we can write,

..............................................(2.5)
Substituting

we can write,

..............(2.6)
We find that, for an infinitely long conductor carrying a current I ,
Therefore,

and

.........................................................................................(2.7)

The value of the constant of proportionality 'K' depends upon a property called
permeability of the medium around the conductor. Permeability is represented by
symbol 'm' and the constant 'K' is expressed in terms of 'm' as

Magnetic field 'B' is a vector and unless we give the direction of 'dB', its description is
not complete. Its direction is found to be perpendicular to the plane of 'r' and 'dl'.
If we assign the direction of the current 'I' to the length element 'dl', the vector product
dl x r has magnitude r dl sinq and direction perpendicular to 'r' and 'dl'.
Hence, BiotSavart law can be stated in vector form to give both the magnitude as well
as direction of magnetic field due to a current element as

Value of permeability changes from medium to medium. For ferromagnetic materials it

is much higher than that for other materials. The permeability of free space (vacuum) is
denoted by the symbol 'm0' and its value is 4p x 107 Wb/Am

Ampere's Circuital Law:

Ampere's circuital law states that the line integral of the magnetic field
(circulation of H )
around a closed path is the net current enclosed by this path. Mathematically,
......................................(24.8)
The total current I enc can be written as,

......................................(24.9)
By applying Stoke's theorem, we can write

......................................(2.10)
which is the Ampere's law in the point form.
Applications of Ampere's law:
We illustrate the application of Ampere's Law with some examples.
Example2.2: We compute magnetic field due to an infinitely long thin current carrying
conductor as shown in Fig. 2.5. Using Ampere's Law, we consider the close path to be a
circle of radius as shown in the Fig. 4.5.
If we consider a small current element
containing both
,i.e.,

and

is perpendicular to the plane

. Therefore only component of

that will be present is

By applying Ampere's law we can write,

......................................
(2.11)

Therefore,

which is same as equation (2.7)

Fig. 2.5: Magnetic field due to an infinite thin current carrying conductor
Example 2.3: We consider the cross section of an infinitely long coaxial conductor, the
inner conductor carrying a current I and outer conductor carrying current - I as shown in
figure 2.6. We compute the magnetic field as a function of as follows:
In the region

......................................(2.12)

............................(2.13)
In the region

......................................(2.14)

Fig. 2.6: Coaxial conductor carrying equal and opposite currents

In the region

......................................(2.15)

........................................(2.16)
In

the

region
......................................(2.17)

Lorentz force
A charged particle at rest will not interact with a static magnetic field. But if the charged
particle is moving in a magnetic field, the magnetic character of a charge in motion
becomes evident. It experiences a deflecting force. The force is greatest when the
particle moves in a direction perpendicular to the magnetic field lines. At other angles,
the force is less and becomes zero when the particles move parallel to the field lines. In
any case, the direction of the force is always perpendicular to the magnetic field lines
and to the velocity of the charged particle.
Magnetic Flux Density
The amount of magnetic flux through a unit area taken perpendicular to the direction of
the magnetic flux. Also called magnetic induction.

Definition Of Ampere
When two current carrying conductors are placed next to each other, we notice that each
induces a force on the other. Each conductor produces a magnetic field around itself
(BiotSavart law) and the second experiences a force that is given by the Lorentz force.

Ampere's Law
The magnetic field in space around an electric current is proportional to the electric
current which serves as its source, just as the electric field in space is proportional
to the charge which serves as its source.
Ampere's law states that for any closed loop path, the sum of the length elements
times the magnetic field in the direction of the length element is equal to the
permeability times the electric current enclosed in the loop.

Or

In the electric case, the relation of field to source is quantified in Gauss's Law

which is a very powerful tool for calculating electric fields.

Application of Ampere's law:
Ampere's law can be used to calculate 'B' for various current carrying conductor
configurations.
Gauss's Law
Gauss's law for magnetic field This law deals with magnetic flux inside a closed
surface and is equivalent to Gauss's law for electric field discussed in Electric Charge
and Electric Field, connected electric flux j E and electric charge.

And j E = E. A
Similarly, magnetic flux fB can be defined as the number of lines of force crossing a unit
area.
Magnetic flux fB = B.A
Since there are no free magnetic charges, the magnetic flux crossing a closed surface
will always be zero. Thus Gauss's law of magnetic field says that the net magnetic
flux fB out of any closed surface is zero.
or B.A = 0
Lenz's law
Soon after Faraday proposed his law of electromagnetic induction, Lenz gave the law
determining the direction of the induced emf.
Lenz's law may be stated as follows:
The direction of the induced current is such as to oppose the cause producing it.
Lenz's law can be compared with the Newton's third law ? every action has equal and
opposite reaction.
When an emf is generated by a change in magnetic flux according to the Faraday's law,
the polarity of the induced emf is such that it produces a current whose magnetic field
opposes the change that produces it. The induced magnetic field inside any loop of wire
always acts to keep the magnetic flux in the loop constant.
In the examples below, if the 'B' field is increasing, the induced field acts in opposition
to it. If it is decreasing, the induced field acts in the direction of the applied field to try
to keep it constant.

Magnetic Flux
Faraday understood that the magnitude of the induced current in a loop was due to the
"amount of magnetic field" passing through the loop.
To visualize this "amount of magnetic field", which is now called the magnetic flux, he
introduced a mental picture of magnetic field as lines of force. This is exactly analogous
to electric flux.
Magnetic flux is the product of the 'B' times the perpendicular area that it penetrates.

The contribution to jB for a given area is equal to the area times the component of
magnetic field perpendicular to the area.
For a closed surface, the sum of magnetic flux is always equal to zero (This is also
known as Gauss's law for magnetic field).
The standard unit for magnetic flux is a weber (Wb), it is the number of magnetic lines
of force (Tesla) crossing a unit area (m2).

Magnetic Flux Density:

In simple matter, the magnetic flux density
where

related to the magnetic field intensity

as

called the permeability. In particular when we consider the free space

where
H/m is the permeability of the free space. Magnetic flux
density is measured in terms of Wb/m 2 .
The magnetic flux density through a surface is given by:

Wb

......................................(2.18)

In the case of electrostatic field, we have seen that if the surface is a closed surface, the net
flux passing through the surface is equal to the charge enclosed by the surface. In case of
magnetic field isolated magnetic charge (i. e. pole) does not exist. Magnetic poles always
occur in pair (as N-S). For example, if we desire to have an isolated magnetic pole by
dividing the magnetic bar successively into two, we end up with pieces each having north (N)
and south (S) pole as shown in Fig. 2.7 (a). This process could be continued until the
magnets are of atomic dimensions; still we will have N-S pair occurring together. This means
that the magnetic poles cannot be isolated.

Fig. 2.7: (a) Subdivision of a magnet (b) Magnetic field/ flux lines of a straight current
carrying conductor
Similarly if we consider the field/flux lines of a current carrying conductor as shown in Fig. 2.7
(b), we find that these lines are closed lines, that is, if we consider a closed surface, the
number of flux lines that would leave the surface would be same as the number of flux lines
that would enter the surface.
From our discussions above, it is evident that for magnetic field,

......................................(2.19)
which is the Gauss's law for the magnetic field.
By applying divergence theorem, we can write:

Hence,

......................................(2.20)

which is the Gauss's law for the magnetic field in point form.
Magnetic Scalar and Vector Potentials:
In studying electric field problems, we introduced the concept of electric potential that simplified the computation of
electric fields for certain types of problems. In the same manner let us relate the magnetic field intensity to a scalar
magnetic potential and write:

...................................(2.21)
From Ampere's law , we know that

......................................(2.22)
Therefore,
But using vector identity,

............................(2.23)

we find that

potential is defined only in the region where

is valid only where

. Thus the scalar magnetic

. Moreover, Vm in general is not a single valued function of position.

This point can be illustrated as follows. Let us consider the cross section of a coaxial line as
shown in fig 2.8.
In the region

and

Fig. 2.8: Cross Section of a Coaxial Line

If Vm is the magnetic potential then,

If we set Vm = 0 at

then c=0 and

We observe that as we make a complete lap around the current carrying conductor , we
reach

again but Vm this time becomes

We observe that value of Vm keeps changing as we complete additional laps to pass through
the same point. We introduced Vm analogous to electostatic potential V. But for static electric
fields,

and
but

, whereas for steady magnetic field

even if

wherever

along the path of integration.

We now introduce the vector magnetic potential which can be used in regions where
current density may be zero or nonzero and the same can be easily extended to time varying
cases. The use of vector magnetic potential provides elegant ways of solving EM field
problems.

Since
write

and we have the vector identity that for any vector

, we can

Here, the vector field

can find

is called the vector magnetic potential. Its SI unit is Wb/m. Thus if

of a given current distribution,

We have introduced the vector function

can be found from

and related its curl to

through a curl operation.

. A vector function is

defined fully in terms of its curl as well as divergence. The choice of

is made as follows.

...........................................(2.24)

By using vector identity,

.................................................(2.25)
.........................................(2.26)

Great deal of simplification can be achieved if we choose

Putting
, we get
which is vector poisson equation.
In Cartesian coordinates, the above equation can be written in terms of the components as
......................................(2.27a)
......................................(2.27b)
......................................(2.27c)
The form of all the above equation is same as that of

..........................................(2.28)
for which the solution is

..................(2.29)

In case of time varying fields we shall see that

, which is known as Lorentz
condition, V being the electric potential. Here we are dealing with static magnetic field, so
.
By comparison, we can write the solution for Ax as

...................................(2.30)
Computing similar solutions for other two components of the vector potential, the vector
potential can be written as

.......................................(2.31)

This equation enables us to find the vector potential at a given point because of a volume
current density

. Similarly for line or surface current density we can write

...................................................(2.32)

respectively. ..............................(2.33)
The magnetic flux

through a given area S is given by

.............................................(2.34)
Substituting

.........................................(2.35)
Vector potential thus have the physical significance that its integral around any closed path is
equal to the magnetic flux passing through that path.

Magnetic Moment In A Magnetic Field

The magnetic moment of an object is a vector relating the aligning torque in a magnetic
field experienced by the object to the field vector itself. The relationship is given by

where
is the torque, measured in newton-meters,
is the magnetic moment, measured in ampere meters-squared, and
is the magnetic field, measured in teslas or, equivalently in newtons per
(ampere-meter).
Magnetic Scalar Potential
The magnetic scalar potential is another useful tool in describing the magnetic field
around a current source. It is only defined in regions of space in absence of (but could be
near) currents.
The magnetic scalar potential is defined by the equation:

Applying Ampere's Law to the above definition we get:

Since in any continuous field, the curl of a gradient is zero, this would suggest that
magnetic scalar potential fields cannot support any sources. In fact, sources can be
supported by applying discontinuities to the potential field (thus the same point can have
two values for points along the disconuity). These discontinuities are also known as
"cuts". When solving magnetostatics problems using magnetic scalar potential, the source
currents must be applied at the discontinuity.
The magnetic scalar potential is suited to use around lines/loops of currents, but not a
region of space with finite current density. The use of magnetic potential reduces the
three components of the magnetic field
to one component
, making computations
and algebraic manipulations easier. It is often used in magnetostatics, but rarely used in
other applications.
Magnetic Vector Potential
The magnetic vector potential
is a three-dimensional vector field whose curl is the
magnetic field in the theory of electromagnetism:

Since the magnetic field is divergence free (i.e.

),

always exists.

Unit III

Electric And Magnetic Fiels In Materials

Poisson's equation
The derivation of Poisson's equation in electrostatics follows. SI units are used and
Euclidean space is assumed.
Starting with Gauss' law for electricity (also part of Maxwell's equations) in a differential
control volume, we have:

means to take the divergence.

is the electric displacement field.
is the charge density.
Assuming the medium is linear, isotropic, and homogeneous then:
is the permittivity of the the medium.
is the electric field.
is the vacuum permittivity.
is the relative permittivity of the medium.
By substitution and division, we have:

Since the curl of the electric field is zero, it is defined by a scalar electric potential field,

Eliminating

by substitution, we have a form of the Poisson equation:

Solving Poisson's equation for the potential requires knowing the charge density
distribution. If the charge density is zero, then Laplace's equation results.

Laplace's equation
In three dimensions, the problem is to find twice-differentiable real-valued functions,
of real variables, x, y, and z, such that

This is often written as

or

where div is the divergence, and grad is the gradient, or

where is the Laplace operator.

Solutions of Laplace's equation are called harmonic functions.
If the right-hand side is specified as a given function, f(x, y, z), i.e.

then the equation is called "Poisson's equation." Laplace's equation and Poisson's
equation are the simplest examples of elliptic partial differential equations. The partial
differential operator,
, or , (which may be defined in any number of dimensions) is
called the Laplace operator, or just the Laplacian
For electrostatic field, we have seen that

..........................................................................................(3.1)
Form the above two equations we can write
..................................................................(3.2)
Using vector identity we can write,

................(3.3)

For a simple homogeneous medium,

is constant and

. Therefore,

................(3.4)
This equation is known as Poissons equation. Here we have introduced a new operator,
( del square), called the Laplacian operator. In Cartesian coordinates,

...............(3.4)
Therefore, in Cartesian coordinates, Poisson equation can be written as:

...............(3.5)
In cylindrical coordinates,

...............(3.6)
In spherical polar coordinate system,

...............(3.7)
At points in simple media, where no free charge is present, Poissons equation reduces to
...................................(3.8)
which is known as Laplaces equation.
Laplaces and Poissons equation are very useful for solving many practical electrostatic field
problems where only the electrostatic conditions (potential and charge) at some boundaries
are known and solution of electric field and potential is to be found throughout the volume.
We shall consider such applications in the section where we deal with boundary value
problems.

Polarization density in Maxwell's equations

The behavior of electric fields (E, D),magnetic fields (B, H), charge density () and
current density (J) are described by Maxwell's equations. The role of the polarization
density P is described below.

Relations between E, D and P

The polarization density P defines the electric displacement field D as
which is convenient for various calculations.A relation between P and E exists in many
materials, as described later in the article.
Bound charge
Electric polarization corresponds to a rearrangement of the bound electrons in the
material, which creates an additional charge density, known as the bound charge density
b:so that the total charge density that enters Maxwell's equations is given bywhere f is
the free charge density (describing charges brought from outside).At the surface of the
polarized material, the bound charge appears as a surface charge densitywhere is the
normal vector. If P is uniform inside the material, this surface charge is the only bound
charge.
When the polarization density changes with time, the time-dependent bound-charge
density creates a current density of so that the total current density that enters Maxwell's
equations is given by where Jf is the free-charge current density, and the second term is a
contribution from the magnetization (when it exists).
Capacitance and Capacitors

Capacitance is a measure of the amount of electric charge stored (or separated) for a
given electric potential. The most common form of charge storage device is a two-plate
capacitor. If the charges on the plates are +Q and -Q, and V gives the voltage difference
between the plates, then the capacitance is given by

The SI unit of capacitance is the farad; 1 farad = 1 coulomb per volt.

Capacitors
The capacitance of the majority of capacitors used in electronic circuits is several orders
of magnitude smaller than the farad. The most common subunits of capacitance in use
today are the millifarad (mF), microfarad (F), the nanofarad (nF) and the picofarad (pF)
The capacitance can be calculated if the geometry of the conductors and the dielectric
properties of the insulator between the conductors are known. For example, the
capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor constructed of two parallel plates of area A
separated by a distance d is approximately equal to the following:

or

where
C is the capacitance in farads, F
s is the static permittivity of the insulator used (or 0 for a vacuum)
A is the area of each plate, measured in square metres
r is the relative static permittivity (sometimes called the dielectric constant) of
the material between the plates, (vacuum =1)
d is the separation between the plates, measured in metres
The equation is a good approximation if d is small compared to the other dimensions of
the plates.
We have already stated that a conductor in an electrostatic field is an Equipotential
body and any charge given to such conductor will distribute themselves in such a manner
that electric field inside the conductor vanishes. If an additional amount of charge is supplied
to an isolated conductor at a given potential, this additional charge will increase the surface
charge density

. Since the potential of the conductor is given by

potential of the conductor will also increase maintaining the ratio

, the
same. Thus we can write

where the constant of proportionality C is called the capacitance of the isolated

conductor. SI unit of capacitance is Coulomb/ Volt also called Farad denoted by F. It can It
can be seen that if V=1, C = Q. Thus capacity of an isolated conductor can also be defined
as the amount of charge in Coulomb required to raise the potential of the conductor by 1
Volt.
Of considerable interest in practice is a capacitor that consists of two (or more) conductors
carrying equal and opposite charges and separated by some dielectric media or free space.
The conductors may have arbitrary shapes. A two-conductor capacitor is shown in figure 3.1

Fig 3.1: Capacitance and Capacitors

When a d-c voltage source is connected between the conductors, a charge transfer occurs which results into a positive
charge on one conductor and negative charge on the other conductor. The conductors are equipotential surfaces and
the field lines are perpendicular to the conductor surface. If V is the mean potential difference between the conductors,
the capacitance is given by
. Capacitance of a capacitor depends on the geometry of the conductor and the
permittivity of the medium between them and does not depend on the charge or potential difference between
conductors. The capacitance can be computed by assuming Q(at the same time -Q on the other conductor), first
determining using Gausss theorem and then determining
example of a parallel plate capacitor
Example: Parallel plate capacitor

. We illustrate this procedure by taking the

Fig 3.2: Parallel Plate Capacitor

For the parallel plate capacitor shown in the figure 3.2, let each plate has area A and a distance h separates the plates.
A dielectric of permittivity fills the region between the plates. The electric field lines are confined between the plates.
We ignore the flux fringing at the edges of the plates and charges are assumed to be uniformly distributed over the
conducting plates with densities
By Gausss theorem we can write,

and -

.
.......................(3.9)

As we have assumed

to be uniform and fringing of field is neglected, we see that E is

constant in the region between the plates and therefore, we can write

. Thus,

for a parallel plate capacitor we have,

........................(3.10)
Series and parallel Connection of capacitors
Capacitors are connected in various manners in electrical circuits; series and parallel
connections are the two basic ways of connecting capacitors. We compute the equivalent
capacitance for such connections.
Series Case: Series connection of two capacitors is shown in the figure 3.3. For this case
we can write,

Fig 3.3: Series Connection of Capacitors

Fig 3.4: Parallel Connection of Capa

The same approach may be extended to more than two capacitors connected in series.
Parallel Case: For the parallel case, the voltages across the capacitors are the same.
The total charge

.......................(3.11)

.......................(3.12)

Therefore,
Electrostatic Energy and Energy Density

We have stated that the electric potential at a point in an electric field is the amount of work
required to bring a unit positive charge from infinity (reference of zero potential) to that point.
To determine the energy that is present in an assembly of charges, let us first determine the
amount of work required to assemble them. Let us consider a number of discrete charges
Q1, Q2,......., QN are brought from infinity to their present position one by one. Since initially
there is no field present, the amount of work done in bring Q1 is zero. Q2 is brought in the
presence of the field of Q1, the work done W1= Q2V21 where V21 is the potential at the location
of Q2 due to Q1. Proceeding in this manner, we can write, the total work done
.....................................
............(3.13)
Had the charges been brought in the reverse order,

.................(3.14)
Therefore,

....
............(3.15)
Here VIJ represent voltage at the Ith charge location due to Jth charge. Therefore,

Or,

................(3.16)

If instead of discrete charges, we now have a distribution of charges over a volume v then we
can write,

................(3.17)
where

is the volume charge density and V represents the potential function.

Since,

, we can write

.......................................(3.18)
Using the vector identity,
, we can write

................(3.19)

In the expression
the term V
as

varies as

, for point charges, since V varies as

and D varies as

while the area varies as r2. Hence the integral term varies at least

and the as surface becomes large (i.e.

) the integral term tends to zero

Thus the equation for W reduces to

................(3.20)

, is called the energy density in the electrostatic field.

Boundary conditions for Electrostatic fields
In our discussions so far we have considered the existence of electric field in the homogeneous
medium. Practical electromagnetic problems often involve media with different physical properties.

Determination of electric field for such problems requires the knowledge of the relations of field
quantities at an interface between two media. The conditions that the fields must satisfy at the
interface of two different media are referred to as boundary conditions .
In order to discuss the boundary conditions, we first consider the field behavior in some
common material media.
In general, based on the electric properties, materials can be classified into three categories:
conductors, semiconductors and insulators (dielectrics). In conductor , electrons in the
outermost shells of the atoms are very loosely held and they migrate easily from one atom to
the other. Most metals belong to this group. The electrons in the atoms of insulators or
dielectrics remain confined to their orbits and under normal circumstances they are not
liberated under the influence of an externally applied field. The electrical properties of
semiconductors fall between those of conductors and insulators since semiconductors have
very few numbers of free charges.
The parameter conductivity is used characterizes the macroscopic electrical property of a
material medium. The notion of conductivity is more important in dealing with the current flow
and hence the same will be considered in detail later on.
If some free charge is introduced inside a conductor, the charges will experience a force due
to mutual repulsion and owing to the fact that they are free to move, the charges will appear
on the surface. The charges will redistribute themselves in such a manner that the field
within the conductor is zero. Therefore, under steady condition, inside a conductor

From Gauss's theorem it follows that

= 0 .......................(3.21)
The surface charge distribution on a conductor depends on the shape of the conductor. The charges on the surface of
the conductor will not be in equilibrium if there is a tangential component of the electric field is present, which would
produce movement of the charges. Hence under static field conditions, tangential component of the electric field on the
conductor surface is zero. The electric field on the surface of the conductor is normal everywhere to the surface .
Since the tangential component of electric field is zero, the conductor surface is an equipotential surface. As = 0
inside the conductor, the conductor as a whole has the same potential. We may further note that charges require a finite
time to redistribute in a conductor. However, this time is very small

sec for good conductor like copper.

Let us now consider an interface
between a conductor and free
space as shown in the figure 3.5.

Fig 3.5: Boundary Conditions for at the surface of a Conductor

Let us consider the closed path pqrsp for which we can write,

.................................(3.22)
For

and noting that

inside the conductor is zero, we can write

=0.......................................(3.23)

Et is the tangential component of the field. Therefore we find that

Et = 0 ...........................................(3.24)
In order to determine the normal component En, the normal component of
of the conductor, we consider a small cylindrical Gaussian surface . Let
area of the top and bottom faces and
as
zero,

, at the surface
represent the

represents the height of the cylinder. Once again,

, we approach the surface of the conductor. Since

= 0 inside the conductor is

.............(3.25)

..................(3.26)
Therefore, we can summarize the boundary conditions at the surface of a conductor as:
Et = 0 ........................(3.27)

.....................(3.28)
Behavior of dielectrics in static electric field: Polarization of dielectric
Here we briefly describe the behavior of dielectrics or insulators when placed in static electric
field. Ideal dielectrics do not contain free charges. As we know, all material media are
composed of atoms where a positively charged nucleus (diameter ~ 10-15m) is surrounded by
negatively charged electrons (electron cloud has radius ~ 10 -10m) moving around the
nucleus. Molecules of dielectrics are neutral macroscopically; an externally applied field
causes small displacement of the charge particles creating small electric dipoles.These
induced dipole moments modify electric fields both inside and outside dielectric material.
Molecules of some dielectric materials posses permanent dipole moments even in the
absence of an external applied field. Usually such molecules consist of two or more
dissimilar atoms and are called polar molecules. A common example of such molecule is
water molecule H2O. In polar molecules the atoms do not arrange themselves to make the

net dipole moment zero. However, in the absence of an external field, the molecules arrange
themselves in a random manner so that net dipole moment over a volume becomes zero.
Under the influence of an applied electric field, these dipoles tend to align themselves along
the field. There are some materials that can exhibit net permanent dipole moment even in
the absence of applied field. These materials are called electrets that made by heating
certain waxes or plastics in the presence of electric field. The applied field aligns the
polarized molecules when the material is in the heated state and they are frozen to their new
position when after the temperature is brought down to its normal temperatures. Permanent
polarization remains without an externally applied field.
As a measure of intensity of polarization, polarization vector

(in C/m2) is defined as:

.......................(3.29)
n being the number of molecules per unit volume i.e.
dielectric material having polarization

is the dipole moment per unit volume. Let us now consider a

and compute the potential at an external point O due to an elementary dipole

dv'.

With reference to the figure 2.16, we can write:

..........................................(3.30)
Therefore,

....................(3.31))

Fig 3.6: Potential at an External Point due to an

Elementary Dipole

dv'.

........(3.32)
where x,y,z represent the coordinates of the external point O
and x',y',z' are the coordinates of the source point.

From the expression of R, we can verify that

.............................................(3.33)

.........................................(3.34)
Using the vector identity,

,where f is a scalar quantity , we have,

.......................(3.35)
Converting the first volume integral of the above expression to surface integral, we can write

.................(3.36)
where
is the outward normal from the surface element ds' of the dielectric. From the
above expression we find that the electric potential of a polarized dielectric may be found
from the contribution of volume and surface charge distributions having densities
......................................................................(3.37)
......................(3.38)
These are referred to as polarisation or bound charge densities. Therefore we may replace a
polarized dielectric by an equivalent polarization surface charge density and a polarization
volume charge density. We recall that bound charges are those charges that are not free to
move within the dielectric material, such charges are result of displacement that occurs on a
molecular scale during polarization. The total bound charge on the surface is

......................(3.39)
The charge that remains inside the surface is

......................(3.40)
The total charge in the dielectric material is zero as

......................(3.41)
If we now consider that the dielectric region containing charge density
charge density becomes

the total volume

....................(3.42)
Since we have taken into account the effect of the bound charge density, we can write

....................(3.43)
Using the definition of

we have
....................(3.44)

Therefore the electric flux density

When the dielectric properties of the medium are linear and isotropic, polarisation is directly
proportional to the applied field strength and
........................(3.45)
is the electric susceptibility of the dielectric. Therefore,
.......................(3.46)
is called relative permeability or the dielectric constant of the medium.
the absolute permittivity.
A dielectric medium is said to be linear when

is independent of

is called

and the medium is

homogeneous if
is also independent of space coordinates. A linear homogeneous and
isotropic medium is called a simple medium and for such medium the relative permittivity is
a constant.
Dielectric constant
may be a function of space coordinates. For anistropic materials, the
dielectric constant is different in different directions of the electric field, D and E are related
by a permittivity tensor which may be written as:

.......................(3.47)
For crystals, the reference coordinates can be chosen along the principal axes, which make
off diagonal elements of the permittivity matrix zero. Therefore, we have

.......................(3.48)

Media exhibiting such characteristics are called biaxial. Further, if

called uniaxial. It may be noted that for isotropic media,

then the medium is

.

Lossy dielectric materials are represented by a complex dielectric constant, the imaginary
part of which provides the power loss in the medium and this is in general dependant on
frequency.
Another phenomenon is of importance is dielectric breakdown. We observed that the
applied electric field causes small displacement of bound charges in a dielectric material that
results into polarization. Strong field can pull electrons completely out of the molecules.
These electrons being accelerated under influence of electric field will collide with molecular
lattice structure causing damage or distortion of material. For very strong fields, avalanche
breakdown may also occur. The dielectric under such condition will become conducting.
The maximum electric field intensity a dielectric can withstand without breakdown is referred
to as the dielectric strength of the material.
Boundary Conditions for Electrostatic Fields:
Let us consider the relationship among the field components that exist at the interface
between two dielectrics as shown in the figure 3.7. The permittivity of the medium 1 and
medium 2 are

and

respectively and the interface may also have a net charge density

Coulomb/m.

Fig 3.7: Boundary Conditions at the interface between two dielectrics

We can express the electric field in terms of the tangential and normal components

..........(3.49)
where Et and En are the tangential and normal components of the electric field respectively.
Let us assume that the closed path is very small so that over the elemental path length the
variation of E can be neglected. Moreover very near to the interface,

. Therefore

.......................(3.50)
Thus, we have,

or
i.e. the tangential component of an electric field is continuous
across the interface.
For relating the flux density vectors on two sides of the interface we apply Gausss law to a
small pillbox volume as shown in the figure. Once again as

, we can write

..................(3.51a)
i.e.,

.................................................(3.51b)
i.e.,

.......................(3.51c)

Thus we find that the normal component of the flux density vector D is discontinuous
across an interface by an amount of discontinuity equal to the surface charge density
at the interface.
Example
Two further illustrate these points; let us consider an example, which involves the refraction
of D or E at a charge free dielectric interface as shown in the figure 3.8.
Using the relationships we have just derived, we can write

.......................(3.52a)
.......................(3.52b)
In terms of flux density vectors,

.......................(3.53a)
.......................(3.53b)

Therefore,

.......................(3.54)

Fig 3.8: Refraction of D or E at a Charge Free Dielectric Interface

Energy
The energy (measured in joules) stored in a capacitor is equal to the work done to charge
it. Consider a capacitance C, holding a charge +q on one plate and -q on the other.
Moving a small element of charge dq from one plate to the other against the potential
difference V = q/C requires the work dW:

where
W is the work measured in joules
q is the charge measured in coulombs
C is the capacitance, measured in farads
We can find the energy stored in a capacitance by integrating this equation. Starting with
an uncharged capacitance (q=0) and moving charge from one plate to the other until the
plates have charge +Q and -Q requires the work W:

Combining this with the above equation for the capacitance of a flat-plate capacitor, we
get:

.
where

W is the energy measured in joules

C is the capacitance, measured in farads
V is the voltage measured in volts
Capacitance and 'displacement current'

The physicist James Clerk Maxwell invented the concept of displacement current,
,
to make Ampre's law consistent with conservation of charge in cases where charge is
accumulating, for example in a capacitor. He interpreted this as a real motion of charges,
even in vacuum, where he supposed that it corresponded to motion of dipole charges in
the ether. Although this interpretation has been abandoned, Maxwell's correction to
Ampre's law remains valid (a changing electric field produces a magnetic field).
Maxwell's equation combining Ampre's law with the displacement current concept is
given as

. (Integrating both sides, the integral of

can be

replaced courtesy of Stokes's theorem with the integral of

over a closed
contour, thus demonstrating the interconnection with Ampre's formulation
Electric Field Boundary Conditions

Steps to solve boundary condition problems:

Typically you are given or have previously calculated the electric field (E) or flux density
(D) in one of the two regions.
1) Break the electric flux density vector (D) into tangential and normal components
as shown above.
2) Solve for the tangential components like this:
D1t D2t

1
2

or

E1t E2t

Because D E o r E

3) Solve for the normal components like this:

The normal components depend on the surface charge density s (C/m2) .
D1n D2n = s (C/m2) OR 1E1n - 2E2n = s

Special Cases:
Perfect Dielectrics (conductivity = 0)
Surface charge density can only exist on a conductive surface, so if both materials
are perfect dielectrics (have no conductivity), then s = 0.
Perfect Conductors (conductivity is infinite) (metals)
The electric field inside the metal = 0, so Et = 0 inside the metal, and on its
surface. TANGENTIAL E = 0 on surface of metal
Magnetic Field Boundary Conditions
Use the same figure as above, but replace electric fields or flux density with magnetic
fields (H) or flux density (B).
Steps to solve boundary condition problems:
Typically you are given or have previously calculated the magnetic field (H) or flux
density (B) in one of the two regions.
1) Break the magnetic flux density vector (B) into tangential and normal components
as shown above.
2) Solve for the tangential components like this:
The tangential magnetic fields depend on the surface current density (most books
call this Js, some call it K). This is the current density (A/m 2 ) flowing ON THE
SURFACE.
H 2 t H 1t J s ( A / m 2 ) K
B H

3) Solve for the normal components like this:

B1n = B2n OR 1H1n = 2 H2n
Special Cases:
Perfect Dielectrics (conductivity = 0)
Surface current density can only exist on a conductive surface, so if both materials
are perfect dielectrics (have no conductivity), then Js = 0
Perfect Conductors (conductivity is infinite) (metals)
The magnetic field inside the metal = 0, so Hn = 0 inside the metal, and on its
surface. NORMAL H = 0 on surface of metal.
Continuity Equation

The continuity equation is derived from two of Maxwell's equations. It states that the
divergence of the current density is equal to the negative rate of change of the charge
density,

Derivation
One of Maxwell's equations, Ampre's law, states that

Taking the divergence of both sides results in

but the divergence of a curl is zero, so that

Another one of Maxwell's equations, Gauss's law, states that

Substitute this into equation (1) to obtain

which is the continuity equation.

Current Density and Ohm's Law:

In our earlier discussion we have mentioned that, conductors have free electrons that move
randomly under thermal agitation. In the absence of an external electric field, the average
thermal velocity on a microscopic scale is zero and so is the net current in the conductor.
Under the influence of an applied field, additional velocity is superimposed on the random
velocities. While the external field accelerates the electron in a direction opposite to it, the
collision with atomic lattice however provide the frictional mechanism by which the electrons
lose some of the momentum gained between the collisions. As a result, the electrons move
with some average drift velocity
field

. This drift velocity can be related to the applied electric

by the relationship

......................(3.55)
where

is the average time between the collisions.

The quantity

i.e., the the drift velocity per unit applied field is called the mobility of

electrons and denoted by

Thus
, e is the magnitude of the electronic charge and
drifts opposite to the applied field.

, as the electron

Let us consider a conductor under the influence of an external electric field. If

the number of electrons per unit volume, then the charge
normal to the direction of the drift velocity is given by:

crossing an area

........................................(3.56)
This flow of charge constitutes a current across

, which is given by,

................(3.57)
The conduction current density can therefore be expressed as

.................................(3.58)
where

is called the conductivity. In vector form, we can write,

..........................................................(3.59)

represents
that is

The above equation is the alternate way of expressing Ohm's law and this relationship is
valid at a point
For semiconductor material, current flow is both due to electrons and holes (however in
practice, it the electron which moves), we can write
......................(3.60)
and
are respectively the density and mobility of holes.
The point form Ohm's law can be used to derive the form of Ohm's law used in circuit theory
relating the current through a conductor to the voltage across the conductor.
Let us consider a homogeneous conductor of conductivity , length L and having a constant
cross section S as shown the figure 3.9 A potential difference of V is applied across the
conductor.

Fig 3.9 Homogeneous Conductor

For the conductor under consideration we can write,
V = EL ..................................(3.61)
Considering the current to be uniformly distributed,

.............(3.62)
From the above two equations,

............................(3.63)
Therefore,

............(3.64)

where

is the resistivity in

and R is the resistance in

Magnetization
Magnetization is a property of some materials (e.g. magnets) that describes to what
extent they are affected by magnetic fields, and also determines the magnetic field that
the material itself creates. Magnetization is defined as the amount of magnetic moment
per unit volume. The origin of the magnetic moments that create the magnetization can be
either microscopic electric currents corresponding to the motion of electrons in atoms, or
the spin of the electrons.
Magnetization in Maxwell's equations
The behavior of magnetic fields ( ,
), electric fields ( ,
), charge density ( ),
and current density ( ) is described by Maxwell's equations. The role of the
magnetization is described below.
Relations between B, H and M
The magnetization defines the auxiliary magnetic field

as

which is convenient for various calculations.

A relation between
and
the relation is usually linear:

where

exists in many materials. In diamagnets and paramagnets,

is called the magnetic susceptibility.

In ferromagnets there is no one-to-one correspondence between

hysteresis.

and

because of

Magnetization current
The magnetization
makes a contribution to the current density
magnetization current or bound current:

, known as the

so that the total current density that enters Maxwell's equations is given by

where
is the electric current density of free charges, the second term is the
contribution from the magnetization, and the last term is related to the electric
polarization .
Magnetostatics
In the absence of free electric currents and time-dependent effects, Maxwell's equations
describing the magnetic quantities reduce to

These equations can be easily solved in analogy with electrostatic problems where

In this sense
electric charge density

plays the role of a "magnetic charge density" analogous to the

.

Magnetization is volume density of magnetic moment. That is: if a certain volume has
magnetization
then volume element dV has magnetic moment of
.
Permeability (Electromagnetism)
In electromagnetism, permeability is the degree of magnetization of a material that
responds linearly to an applied magnetic field. In SI units, permeability is measured in
henries per metre, or newtons per ampere squared. The constant value 0 is known as the
magnetic constant or the permeability of vacuum, and has the exact or defined value 0 =
4107 NA2.
Ferromagnets
Some materials, called ferromagnetic or ferromagnets, are highly magnetic by nature,
relative to most materials. They are composed of a large number of very small magnetic
units working together called domains. Domains are not always aligned, and they often
act against each other to reduce the strength of the net magnetic field.
If the ferromagnetic material is put into an externally applied magnetic field, the domains
tend to line up, so that the sum of the fields from the ferromagnet and the applied
magnetic field is higher in magnitude than the applied magnetic field alone.
Permeability in linear materials owes its existence to the approximation:

where

is a dimensionless scalar called the magnetic susceptibility.

According to the definition of the auxiliary field, H

where
is the material's permeability, measured in henries per metre.
B is the magnetic field (also called the magnetic flux density or the magnetic
induction) in the material, measured in teslas
H is the auxiliary magnetic field, measured in amperes per metre
M is the material's magnetization, measured in amperes per metre
The permittivity of free space (the vacuum permittivity) and the magnetic constant are
related to the speed of light (c) by the formula:
Relative permeability
Relative permeability, sometimes denoted by the symbol r, is the ratio of the
permeability of a specific medium to the permeability of free space 0:

In terms of relative permeability, the magnetic susceptibility is:

m, a dimensionless quantity, is sometimes called volumetric or bulk susceptibility, to

distinguish it from p (magnetic mass or specific susceptibility) and M (molar or molar
mass susceptibility).
Inductance and Inductor:
Resistance, capacitance and inductance are the three familiar parameters from circuit theory.
We have already discussed about the parameters resistance and capacitance in the earlier
chapters. In this section, we discuss about the parameter inductance. Before we start our
discussion, let us first introduce the concept of flux linkage. If in a coil with N closely wound
turns around where a current I produces a flux

and this flux links or encircles each of the N

turns, the flux linkage is defined as

. In a linear medium, where the flux is
proportional to the current, we define the self inductance L as the ratio of the total flux

linkage to the current which they link.

i.e.,

...................................(3.65)

To further illustrate the concept of inductance, let us consider two closed loops C1 and C2 as
shown in the figure 3.10, S1 and S2 are respectively the areas of C1 and C2 .

Fig 3.10
If a current I1 flows in C1 , the magnetic flux B1 will be created part of which will be linked to
C2 as shown in Figure 3.10.

...................................(3.66)
In a linear medium,

is proportional to I 1. Therefore, we can write

...................................(3.67)

where L12 is the mutual inductance. For a more general case, if C2 has N2 turns then
...................................(3.68)
and

or

...................................(3.69)

i.e., the mutual inductance can be defined as the ratio of the total flux linkage of the second
circuit to the current flowing in the first circuit.

As we have already stated, the magnetic flux produced in C1 gets linked to itself and if C1 has
N1 turns then

, where

is the flux linkage per turn.

Therefore, self inductance

...................................(3.70)

As some of the flux produced by I1 links only to C1 & not C2.

...................................(3.71)

Further in general, in a linear medium,

and

Example 1: Inductance per unit length of a very long solenoid:

Let us consider a solenoid having n turns/unit length and carrying a current I. The solenoid is
air cored.

Fig 3.11: A long current carrying solenoid

The magnetic flux density inside such a long solenoid can be calculated as

..................................(3.72)
where the magnetic field is along the axis of the solenoid.
If S is the area of cross section of the solenoid then
..................................(3.73)
The flux linkage per unit length of the solenoid
..................................(3.74)
The inductance per unit length of the solenoid

..................................(3.75)
Example 2: Self inductance per unit length of a coaxial cable of inner radius 'a' and outer
radius 'b'. Assume a current I flows through the inner conductor.
Solution:
Let us assume that the current is uniformly distributed in the inner conductor so that inside
the inner conductor.
i.e.,

..................................(3.76)
and in the region ,

..................................(3.77)
Let us consider the flux linkage per unit length in the inner conductor. Flux enclosed between
the region

and

( and unit length in the axial direction).

..................................(3.78)

Fraction of the total current it links is

..................................(3.79)
Similarly for the region

..................................(3.80)

&

.................................(3.81)

Total linkage

..................................(3.82)

The self inductance,

Here, the first term
per unit length.

..................................(3.83)

arises from the flux linkage internal to the solid inner conductor and is the internal inductance

In high frequency application and assuming the conductivity to be very high, the current in the internal conductor
instead of being distributed throughout remain essentially concentrated on the surface of the inner conductor ( as we
shall see later) and the internal inductance becomes negligibly small.

Example 3: Inductance of an N turn toroid carrying a filamentary current I.

Fig 3.12: N turn toroid carrying filamentary current I.

Solution: Magnetic flux density inside the toroid is given by

..................................(3.84)
Let the inner radius is 'a' and outer radius is 'b'. Let the cross section area 'S' is small
compared to the mean radius of the toroid

Then total flux

..................................(3.85)
and flux linkage

..................................(3.86)
The inductance

..................................(3.87)
Boundary Condition for Magnetic Fields:
Similar to the boundary conditions in the electro static fields, here we will consider the
behavior of and
at the interface of two different media. In particular, we determine how
the tangential and normal components of magnetic fields behave at the boundary of two
regions having different permeabilities.

The figure 4.9 shows the interface between two media having permeabities
being the normal vector from medium 2 to medium 1.

and

Figure3.13: Interface between two magnetic media

To determine the condition for the normal component of the flux density vector , we
consider a small pill box P with vanishingly small thickness h and having an elementary area
for the faces. Over the pill box, we can write
....................................................(3.88)

Since h --> 0, we can neglect the flux through the sidewall of the pill box.

...........................(3.89)

and

..................(3.90)

where
and
Since

..........................(3.91)

is small, we can write

or,

...................................(3.92)

That is, the normal component of the magnetic flux density vector is continuous across the
interface.
In vector form,
...........................(3.93)
To determine the condition for the tangential component for the magnetic field, we consider a
closed path C as shown in figure 4.8. By applying Ampere's law we can write
....................................(3.94)
Since h -->0,

...................................(3.95)

We have shown in figure 4.8, a set of three unit vectors

and

(R.H. rule). Here is tangential to the interface and

perpendicular to the surface enclosed by C at the interface
The above equation can be written as

such that they satisfy

is the vector

or,

...................................(3.96)

i.e., tangential component of magnetic field component is discontinuous across the interface
where a free surface current exists.
If Js = 0, the tangential magnetic field is also continuous. If one of the medium is a perfect
conductor Js exists on the surface of the perfect conductor.
In vector form we can write,

...................................(3.97)
Therefore,

...................................(3.98)

Unit IV Time Varying Electric and Magnetic Fields

Introduction:
In our study of static fields so far, we have observed that static electric fields are produced by
electric charges, static magnetic fields are produced by charges in motion or by steady
current. Further, static electric field is a conservative field and has no curl, the static magnetic
field is continuous and its divergence is zero. The fundamental relationships for static electric
fields among the field quantities can be summarized as:
(4.1a)
(4.1b)
For a linear and isotropic medium,
(4.1c)
Similarly for the magnetostatic case
(4.2a)
(4.2b)
(4.2c)
It can be seen that for static case, the electric field vectors
vectors

and

and

and magnetic field

form separate pairs.

In this chapter we will consider the time varying scenario. In the time varying case we will
observe that a changing magnetic field will produce a changing electric field and vice versa.
We begin our discussion with Faraday's Law of electromagnetic induction and then present
the Maxwell's equations which form the foundation for the electromagnetic theory.
Faraday's Law of electromagnetic Induction
Michael Faraday, in 1831 discovered experimentally that a current was induced in a
conducting loop when the magnetic flux linking the loop changed. In terms of fields, we can
say that a time varying magnetic field produces an electromotive force (emf) which causes a
current in a closed circuit. The quantitative relation between the induced emf (the voltage
that arises from conductors moving in a magnetic field or from changing magnetic fields) and
the rate of change of flux linkage developed based on experimental observation is known as
Faraday's law. Mathematically, the induced emf can be written as

Emf =
where

Volts

(4.3)

is the flux linkage over the closed path.

A non zero

may result due to any of the following:

(a) time changing flux linkage a stationary closed path.

(b) relative motion between a steady flux a closed path.
(c) a combination of the above two cases.
The negative sign in equation (4.3) was introduced by Lenz in order to comply with the
polarity of the induced emf. The negative sign implies that the induced emf will cause a
current flow in the closed loop in such a direction so as to oppose the change in the linking
magnetic flux which produces it. (It may be noted that as far as the induced emf is
concerned, the closed path forming a loop does not necessarily have to be conductive).
If the closed path is in the form of N tightly wound turns of a coil, the change in the magnetic
flux linking the coil induces an emf in each turn of the coil and total emf is the sum of the
induced emfs of the individual turns, i.e.,

Emf =

Volts

(4.4)

By defining the total flux linkage as

(4.5)
The emf can be written as

Emf =

(4.6)

Continuing with equation (5.3), over a closed contour 'C' we can write

Emf =
where

(4.7)

is the induced electric field on the conductor to sustain the current.

Further, total flux enclosed by the contour 'C ' is given by

(4.8)
Where S is the surface for which 'C' is the contour.
From (5.7) and using (5.8) in (5.3) we can write

(4.9)
By applying stokes theorem

(4.10)
Therefore, we can write

(4.11)
which is the Faraday's law in the point form

We have said that non zero

can be produced in a several ways. One particular case is
when a time varying flux linking a stationary closed path induces an emf. The emf induced in
a stationary closed path by a time varying magnetic field is called a transformer emf
Example: Ideal transformer
As shown in figure 4.1, a transformer consists of two or more numbers of coils coupled
magnetically through a common core. Let us consider an ideal transformer whose winding
has zero resistance, the core having infinite permittivity and magnetic losses are zero.

Fig 4.1: Transformer with secondary open

These assumptions ensure that the magnetization current under no load condition is
vanishingly small and can be ignored. Further, all time varying flux produced by the primary
winding will follow the magnetic path inside the core and link to the secondary coil without
any leakage. If N1 and N2 are the number of turns in the primary and the secondary windings
respectively, the induced emfs are

(4.12a)

(4.12b)
(The polarities are marked, hence negative sign is omitted. The induced emf is +ve at the
dotted end of the winding.)

(4.13)
i.e., the ratio of the induced emfs in primary and secondary is equal to the ratio of their turns.
Under ideal condition, the induced emf in either winding is equal to their voltage rating.

(4.14)
where 'a' is the transformation ratio. When the secondary winding is connected to a load, the
current flows in the secondary, which produces a flux opposing the original flux. The net flux
in the core decreases and induced emf will tend to decrease from the no load value. This
causes the primary current to increase to nullify the decrease in the flux and induced emf.
The current continues to increase till the flux in the core and the induced emfs are restored to
the no load values. Thus the source supplies power to the primary winding and the
secondary winding delivers the power to the load. Equating the powers
(4.15)

(4.16)
Further,
(4.17)
i.e., the net magnetomotive force (mmf) needed to excite the transformer is zero under ideal
condition.

Motional EMF:
Let us consider a conductor moving in a steady magnetic field as shown in the fig 4.2.

Fig 4.2
If a charge Q moves in a magnetic field

, it experiences a force
(4.18)

This force will cause the electrons in the conductor to drift towards one end and leave the
other end positively charged, thus creating a field and charge separation continuous until
electric and magnetic forces balance and an equilibrium is reached very quickly, the net force
on the moving conductor is zero.

can be interpreted as an induced electric field which is called the motional electric
field
(4.19)
If the moving conductor is a part of the closed circuit C, the generated emf around the circuit
is

. This emf is called the motional emf.

Maxwell's Equation
Equation (5.1) and (5.2) gives the relationship among the field quantities in the static field.
For time varying case, the relationship among the field vectors written as

(4.20a)
(4.20b)

(4.20c)
(4.20d)
In addition, from the principle of conservation of charges we get the equation of continuity

(4.21)
The equation 5.20 (a) - (d) must be consistent with equation (4.21).
We observe that
(4.22)
Since

is zero for any vector

Thus
applies only for the static case i.e., for the scenario when
A classic example for this is given below .

Suppose we are in the process of charging up a capacitor as shown in fig 4.3.

Fig 4.3
Let us apply the Ampere's Law for the Amperian loop shown in fig 4.3. Ienc = I is the total
current passing through the loop. But if we draw a baloon shaped surface as in fig 5.3, no
current passes through this surface and hence Ienc = 0. But for non steady currents such as
this one, the concept of current enclosed by a loop is ill-defined since it depends on what
surface you use. In fact Ampere's Law should also hold true for time varying case as well,
then comes the idea of displacement current which will be introduced in the next few slides.
We can write for time varying case,

(4.23)

(4.24)
The equation (4.24) is valid for static as well as for time varying case.
Equation (4.24) indicates that a time varying electric field will give rise to a magnetic field
even in the absence of . The term
has a dimension of current densities
called the displacement current density.

and is

Introduction of
in
equation is one of the major contributions of Jame's Clerk
Maxwell. The modified set of equations

(4.25a)

(4.25b)
(4.25c)
(4.25d)
is known as the Maxwell's equation and this set of equations apply in the time varying
scenario, static fields are being a particular case

In the integral form

(4.26a)

(4.26b)

(4.26c)

(4.26d)

The modification of Ampere's law by Maxwell has led to the development of a unified
electromagnetic field theory. By introducing the displacement current term, Maxwell could
predict the propagation of EM waves. Existence of EM waves was later demonstrated by
Hertz experimentally which led to the new era of radio communication.
Boundary Conditions for Electromagnetic fields
The differential forms of Maxwell's equations are used to solve for the field vectors provided
the field quantities are single valued, bounded and continuous. At the media boundaries, the
field vectors are discontinuous and their behaviors across the boundaries are governed by
boundary conditions. The integral equations(eqn 4.26) are assumed to hold for regions
containing discontinuous media.Boundary conditions can be derived by applying the
Maxwell's equations in the integral form to small regions at the interface of the two media.
The procedure is similar to those used for obtaining boundary conditions for static electric
fields and static magnetic fields . The boundary conditions are summarized as follows
With reference to fig 4.3

Fig 4.4
Equation 4.27 (a) says that tangential component of electric field is continuous across the
interface while from 4.27 (c) we note that tangential component of the magnetic field is
discontinuous by an amount equal to the surface current density. Similarly 4.27 (b) states
that normal component of electric flux density vector
is discontinuous across the interface
by an amount equal to the surface current density while normal component of the magnetic
flux density is continuous.
If one side of the interface, as shown in fig 4.4, is a perfect electric conductor, say region 2, a
surface current

can exist even though

Thus eqn 4.27(a) and (c) reduces to

is zero as

Maxwell's equations are a set of four equations that describe the interrelationship
between electric field, magnetic field, electric charge, and electric current.
Charge Density and the Electric Field
D =
where is the electric charge density (in units of C/m 3), and D is the electric
displacement field (in units of C/m2) which is related to the electric field E via a
materials-dependent constant called the permittivity, . The permittivity of free space is
referred to as 0, resulting in the equation for free space:
E = /0
where, again, E is the electric field (in units of V/m), is the charge density, and 0
(approximately 8.854 pF/m) is the permittivity of free space.
Equivalent integral form: AEdA = Qenclosed / 0
dA is the area of a differential square on the surface A with an outward facing surface
normal defining its direction, Qenclosed is the charge enclosed by the surface.
Note: the integral form only works if the integral is over a closed surface. Shape and size
do not matter. The integral form is also known as Gauss's Law.
This equation corresponds to Coulomb's law.
The Structure of the Magnetic Field
B = 0
B is the magnetic flux (in units of tesla, T).
Equivalent integral form: ABdA = 0
dA is the area of a differential square on the surface A with an outward facing surface
normal defining its direction. Note: like the electric field's integral form, this equation
only works if the integral is done over a closed surface.
This equation is related to the magnetic field's structure because it states that given any
volume element, the net magnitude of the vector components that point outward from the
surface must be equal to the net magnitude of the vector components that point inward.
Structurally, this means that the magnetic field lines must be closed loops. Another way
of putting it is that the field lines cannot originate from somewhere; attempting to follow
the lines backwards to their source or forward to their terminus ultimately leads back to
the starting position. This implies that there are no magnetic monopoles. If a monopole
were to be discovered, this equation would need to be modified to read

B = m
where m would be the density of magnetic monopoles.
A Changing Magnetic Field and the Electric Field
E = -B/t
Equivalent Integral Form: = -dB/dt where B = ABdA
B is the magnetic flux through the area A described by the second equation, is the
Electromotive Force around the edge of the surface A.
Note: this equation only works of the surface A is not closed because the net magnetic
flux through a closed surface will always be zero, as stated by the previous equation.
That, and the electromotive force is measured along the edge of the surface; a closed
surface has no edge. Some textbooks list the Integral form with an N (representing the
number of coils of wire that are around the edge of A) in front of the flux derivative. The
N can be taken care of in calculating A (multiple wire coils means multiple surfaces for
the flux to go through), and it is an engineering detail so it has been omitted here.
Note the negative sign; it is necessary to maintain conservation of energy. It is so
important that it even has its own name, Lenz's Law. This equation relates the electric and
magnetic fields, but it also has a lot of practical applications, too. This equation describes
how electric motors and electric generators work. This law corresponds to the Faraday's
law of electromagnetic induction.

The Source of the Magnetic Field

H = J + E/t
where H is the magnetic field strength (in units of A/m), related to the magnetic flux B by
a constant called the permeability, , and J is the current density, defined by: J = qvdV
where v is a vector field called the drift velocity that describes the velocities of that
charge carriers which have a density described by the scalar function q.
In free space, the permeability is the permeability of free space, 0, which is defined to
be exactly 410-7 W/Am. Thus, in free space, the equation becomes:
B = 0J + 00E/t
Equivalent integral form: sBds = 0Iencircled - 00A (E/t)dA

s is the edge of the open surface A (any surface with the curve s as its edge will do), and
Iencircled is the current encircled by the curve s (the current through any surface is defined
by the equation: Ithrough A = AJdA).
Note: unless there is a capacitor or some other place where J 0, the second term on
the right hand side is generally negligible and ignored. Any time this applies, the integral
form is known as Ampere's Law.
Summary

D =

B = 0

E = -B/t

H = J + D/t
For free space, eliminating the nonphysical quantities D and H, this reduces to:

E = /0
B = 0
E = -B/t
B = 0J + 00E/t

Simplifying further, by considering the case in the absence of imposed current or electric
charge, gives the propagation equation for electromagnetic waves in free space:

E = 0
B = 0
E = -B/t
B = 00E/t

This equation has a simple solution in terms of traveling sinusoidal plane waves,
traveling at the speed (00)-1/2.
Maxwell's observation that 00 = c-2, relating the speed of light c to the permittivity and
permeability of free space, was the first confirmation that light was electromagnetic
radiation.
A Final Note on Unit Systems
The above equations are all in a unit system called mks (short for meter, kilogram,
second; also know as the International System of Units (or SI for short). This is more
commonly known as the metric system. In a related unit system, called cgs (short for
centimeter, gram, second), the equations take on a more symmetrical form, as follows:

E = 4
B = 0
E = -c-1 B/t

B = c-1 E/t + 4c-1J

Where c is the speed of light in a vacuum. The symmetry is more apparent when the
electromagnetic field is considered in a vacuum. The equations take on the following,
highly symmetric form:

E = 0
B = 0
E = - 1/c B/t
B = 1/c E/t

Poynting Vector and Power Flow in Electromagnetic Fields:

Electromagnetic waves can transport energy from one point to another point. The electric
and magnetic field intensities asscociated with a travelling electromagnetic wave can be
related to the rate of such energy transfer.
Let us consider Maxwell's Curl Equations:

Using vector identity

the above curl equations we can write

.............................................(4.29)
In simple medium where

and

are constant, we can write

and

Applying Divergence theorem we can write,

...........................(4.30)

The term

represents the rate of change of energy stored in the

electric and magnetic fields and the term

represents the power dissipation within
the volume. Hence right hand side of the equation (6.36) represents the total decrease in
power within the volume under consideration.

The left hand side of equation (6.36) can be written as

where

(W/mt2) is called the Poynting vector and it represents the power density vector
associated with the electromagnetic field. The integration of the Poynting vector over any
closed surface gives the net power flowing out of the surface. Equation (6.36) is referred to
as Poynting theorem and it states that the net power flowing out of a given volume is equal
to the time rate of decrease in the energy stored within the volume minus the conduction
losses.
Poynting vector for the time harmonic case:
For time harmonic case, the time variation is of the form

, and we have seen that

instantaneous value of a quantity is the real part of the product of a phasor quantity and
when
is used as reference. For example, if we consider the phasor

then we can write the instanteneous field as

.................................(4.31)
when E0 is real.
Let us consider two instanteneous quantities A and B such that

where A and B are the phasor quantities.

i.e,

Therefore,

..............................(4.32)

Since A and B are periodic with period

AB, denoted by

, the time average value of the product form

can be written as

.....................................(4.33)
Further, considering the phasor quantities A and B, we find that

and

, where * denotes complex conjugate.

..............................................(4.34)
The poynting vector

can be expressed as

...................................(4.35)
If we consider a plane electromagnetic wave propagating in +z direction and has only
component, we can write:

Using (6.41)

........................................(4.36)

where

and

, for the plane wave under consideration.

For a general case, we can write

.....................(4.37)
We can define a complex Poynting vector

and time average of the instantaneous Poynting vector is given by

Unit V

Electromagnetic Waves

The Wave Equation

The wave equation for a plane wave traveling in the x direction is

where v is the phase velocity of the wave and y represents the variable which is changing
as the wave passes. This is the form of the wave equation which applies to a stretched
string or a plane electromagnetic wave. The mathematical description of a wave makes
use of partial derivatives.
In two dimensions, the wave equation takes the form

which could describe a wave on a stretched membrane.

General Wave Equations

Electromagnetic (EM) wave can be ultimately described by three things: 1) Maxwell

equations, material response to the EM fields, and boundary conditions:

D v

B 0

B
E
t
D
H J
t

D E r 0 E 0 E P

B H 0 H M 0 1 m H

J v u E

P 0 e E M 0 m H

In charge free medium (v=0), linear, isotopic ( is scalar), homogeneous, and

time invariant medium (P responds to E instantaneously). We have


E 0

H 0

H
E
t

E
H E
t

if the EM wave only contains one frequency component , we can rewrite the
Maxwell equation in phasor form using E = Re (Es ejt).

Es 0

Hs 0

E s jH s

H s E s jE s

Use the third equation (Faradays Law) and apply the curl on both sides of the full timevarying equation.

E
H
t

Use the last equation into the above equation and use a vector identity..

E E
t
t

E
2E
2

E E

t
t 2

Since we are considering a charge-free region the general wave equation (Helmholtz
equation) becomes:

E
2E
2
E
2
t
t
Again, if the E and H fields only have one frequency components, we can get wirte a
phasor equation for the time-harmonic field.

2 E s j j E s

or 2 E s 2 E s
where the material properties which govern the wave
propagation are described by::

j j j

Where characterizes materials absorption (gain), and characterize the propagation

speed (propagation constant).
Uniform plane waveguide (UPW) solution
Now, lets try to solve the waveguide equation. The simplest solution beyond trial (0) is
the UPW solution. While we have
a). Electrical filed only have one components (say Ex component)
b). This components is constant in two directions (say x-y plane), only change along zaxis (propagation direction).
So
the proposed solution is (For notational convenience, we drop the subscript s.)

E Ex z ax

How do we know this is a solution? Just plug in the wave equation, if we can find a Ex(x)
which satisfies the wave equation, we have a solution.
d 2 Ex
2 Ex 0
2
dz
The solution is

E x z E 0 e z E 0 e z a x

If we translate this solution back into a fully time-varying solution, it is:

E x z Re E 0 e z e j t z E 0 e z e j t z a x

The first term characterizes the forward-propagating UPW, the second term characterizes
the backward-propagating one.
By the help of the Maxwell equations, we can also figure out other field such D, B. and
H.

Es jH s

Therefore, the H field can be calculated as

Hs

1
j

Es

E0 z E0 z
H s
e
e a y
j
j

(The subcript s is written here to remind you that all quanatities are phasor quantitites.)
Having E and H solution available, the ratio between the E and H field can be taken.
Lets take a forward-propagation UPW as examples:

E
H

j
j

Since E and H fields have unit (V/m) and (A/m). The ratio yields a unit of (). This ratio
is referred as intrinsic impedance of the materials.
The
wave propagates along az, we can use a vector to represent that

a z

The unit vector to represent this direction is defined as ap (az in this case) E-field
propagates along ax, and E-field propagates along ay. Therefore, these three vectors form
a right-handed rectangle coordinate system, i.e.

1
H s a p Es

E s a p H s

Now, we can see, the propagation characteristics for UPW is ultimately determined by
j j j . We then discuss the responses in various materials.

a). Propagation in lossless, charge-free region

In a charge free region with zero loss, the propagation constant
j j j
=0, so j 0 j j

E x z Re E 0 e j t z E 0 e j t z a x

E x z a x [ E 0 cos t z E 0 cos t z ]
up

A special example will be vacuum, where =0, =0.

0
120
0

u p 3 108

m / s

b). Propagation in lossy media

In a lossy media, the loss comes from two parts: a non-zero electric conductivity 0), a
polarization loss (energy required of the filed to flip reluctant dipoles, dielectric loss). A
complex permittivity c is used to characterize this part.

c ' j "
Therefore, the propagation constant can be written:

Where

j

j
j
" j '
j

eff " , we can solve for the absorption and the propagation constant of

the medium i.e.and = Re ; =Im

eff

'

eff

'

Loss Tangent: a standard measure of lossiness in a dielectric is measured by the ratio of

eff

"
tan

' '

Referred as loss-tangent

eff

Low-loss dielectrics
For low loss dielectrics, <<1, <<, therefore
eff
1
'

2

Conductors:
In conductor, >>1, therefore the loss tangent is >>1, the propagation constant can take
another approximation due to
eff
1
'

f
2

j
j 4
f

e 1 j
1 j

4f

1
H s a p Es

up

The phasor form for the field can be written:

E x z E 0 e z e j t z E 0 e z e j t z a x

We can see that if is not a small quantity, the EM wave cannot penetrate into metal too
deep. A fair measure will be the skin depth where the amplitude of E-field reduces to its
1/e of its surface value. This depth is referred as skin depth
e e 1

Current flow in a good conductor

From above analysis, we can see that E-field of a UPW can only penetrate into a finite
depth of a conductor. Therefore, the actual resistance of a conductor to an EM wave is
determined by this penetration depth (not by the actual thickness of the conductor itself).
We now calculate this resistance:

If we have UPW propagating along z-direction, we have E-field pointing along xdirection. The E-field in the conductor is given by:
(1 j )

z
z jz
E E0 e e a x E0 e a x
Where is the penetration depth defined above, the current density in conductor is:
(1 j )

z
J E E 0 e a x
The current flowing through a rectangular strip extending between zero and in the zdirection, and width w in y-direction is:

E w
I w J z dz 0
0
1 j
The voltage across a length l at the surface is given by
V E0 l

So the impedance of a slab of width w and length l is

~
V (1 j ) l
l
Z ~
ZS

w
w
I

Here we define surface impedance ZS:

Z S RS jLS

RS

LS

1
1

2 f

Skin Effect
The skin effect is the tendency of an alternating electric current (AC) to distribute itself
within a conductor so that the current density near the surface of the conductor is greater
than that at its core. That is, the electric current tends to flow at the "skin" of the
conductor.
The skin effect causes the effective resistance of the conductor to increase with the
frequency of the current. The skin effect has practical consequences in the design of
radio-frequency and microwave circuits and to some extent in AC electrical power
transmission and distribution systems. Also, it is of considerable importance when
designing discharge tube circuits.

The current density J in an infinitely thick plane conductor decreases exponentially with
depth from the surface, as follows:

where d is a constant called the skin depth. This is defined as the depth below the surface
of the conductor at which the current density decays to 1/e (about 0.37) of the current
density at the surface (JS). It can be calculated as follows:

where
= resistivity of conductor
= angular frequency of current = 2 frequency
= absolute magnetic permeability of conductor
, where 0 is the
7
2
permeability of free space (410 N/A ) and r is the relative permeability of the
conductor.
The resistance of a flat slab (much thicker than d) to alternating current is exactly equal to
the resistance of a plate of thickness d to direct current. For long, cylindrical conductors
such as wires, with diameter D large compared to d, the resistance is approximately that
of a hollow tube with wall thickness d carrying direct current. That is, the AC resistance
is approximately:

where
L = length of conductor
D = diameter of conductor
The final approximation above is accurate if D >> d.
A convenient formula (attributed to F.E. Terman) for the diameter DW of a wire of circular
cross-section whose resistance will increase by 10% at frequency f is:

The increase in ac resistance described above is accurate only for an isolated wire. For a
wire close to other wires, e.g. in a cable or a coil, the ac resistance is also affected by
proximity effect, which often causes a much more severe increase in ac resistance.
Polarisation of plane wave:
The polarisation of a plane wave can be defined as the orientation of the electric field vector
as a function of time at a fixed point in space. For an electromagnetic wave, the specification
of the orientation of the electric field is sufficent as the magnetic field components are related
to electric field vector by the Maxwell's equations.
Let us consider a plane wave travelling in the +z direction. The wave has both E x and Ey
components.

..........................................(5.1)
The corresponding magnetic fields are given by,

Depending upon the values of Eox and Eoy we can have several possibilities:
1. If Eoy = 0, then the wave is linearly polarised in the x-direction.
2. If Eoy = 0, then the wave is linearly polarised in the y-direction.
3. If Eox and Eoy are both real (or complex with equal phase), once again we get a linearly

polarised wave with the axis of polarisation inclined at an angle

the x-axis. This is shown in fig 5.1

, with respect to

Fig 5.1 : Linear Polarisation

4. If Eox and Eoy are complex with different phase angles,

will not point to a single spatial

direction. This is explained as follows: Let

Then,

and

To keep the things simple, let us consider a =0 and

the electric field on the z =0 plain.

....................................(5.2)

. Further, let us study the nature of

From equation we find that,

.....................................(5.3)

and the electric field vector at z = 0 can be written as

.............................................(5.4)

Assuming

, the plot of

for various values of t is hown in figure 5.2

Figure 5.2 : Plot of E(o,t)

From equation and figure we observe that the tip of the arrow representing electric field
vector traces qn ellipse and the field is said to be elliptically polarised.

Figure 5.3: Polarisation ellipse

The polarisation ellipse shown in figure 6.6 is defined by its axial ratio(M/N, the ratio of
semimajor to semiminor axis), tilt angle (orientation with respect to xaxis) and sense of
rotation(i.e., CW or CCW).

Linear polarisation can be treated as a special case of elliptical polarisation, for which the
axial ratio is infinite.

In our example, if
, from equation , the tip of the arrow representing electric field
vector traces out a circle. Such a case is referred to as Circular Polarisation. For circular
polarisation the axial ratio is unity.

Figure 5.4: Circular Polarisation (RHCP)

Further, the circular polarisation is aside to be right handed circular polarisation (RHCP) if the
electric field vector rotates in the direction of the fingers of the right hand when the thumb
points in the direction of propagation-(same and CCW). If the electric field vector rotates in
the opposite direction, the polarisation is asid to be left hand circular polarisation (LHCP)
(same as CW).
In AM radio broadcast, the radiated electromagnetic wave is linearly polarised with the
field vertical to the ground( vertical polarisation) where as TV signals are horizontally
polarised waves. FM broadcast is usually carried out using circularly polarised waves.
In radio communication, different information signals can be transmitted at the same
frequency at orthogonal polarisation ( one signal as vertically polarised other horizontally
polarised or one as RHCP while the other as LHCP) to increase capacity. Otherwise, same
signal can be transmitted at orthogonal polarisation to obtain diversity gain to improve
reliability of transmission.

Angle Of Incidence
Angle of incidence is a measure of deviation of something from "straight on", for
example in the approach of a ray to a surface, or the direction of an airfoil with respect to
the direction of an airplane.

Optics
In geometric optics, the angle of incidence is the angle between a ray incident on a
surface and the line perpendicular to the surface at the point of incidence, called the
normal. The ray can be formed by any wave: optical, acoustic, microwave, X-ray and so
on. In the figure above, the red line representing a ray makes an angle with the normal
(dotted line). The angle of incidence at which light is first totally internally reflected is
known as the critical angle. The angle of reflection and angle of refraction are other
angles related to beams.
Grazing angle
When dealing with a beam that is nearly parallel to a surface, it is sometimes more useful
to refer to the angle between the beam and the surface, rather than that between the beam
and the surface normal, in other words 90 minus the angle of incidence. This angle is
called a glancing angle or grazing angle. Incidence at small grazing angle is called
"grazing incidence".
Grazing incidence is used in X-ray spectroscopy and atom optics, where significant
reflection can be achieved only at small values of the grazing angle. Ridged mirrors are
designed for reflection of atoms coming at small grazing angle. This angle is usually
measured in milliradians.
Brewster's angle

An illustration of the polarization of light which is incident on an interface at Brewster's

angle.
Brewster's angle (also known as the polarization angle) is an optical phenomenon
named after the Scottish physicist, Sir David Brewster (17811868).
When light moves between two media of differing refractive index, generally some of it
is reflected at the boundary. At one particular angle of incidence, however, light with one
particular polarization cannot be reflected. This angle of incidence is Brewster's angle, B.
The polarization that cannot be reflected at this angle is the polarization for which the
electric field of the light waves lies in the same plane as the incident ray and the surface
normal (i.e. the plane of incidence). Light with this polarization is said to be p-polarized,
because it is parallel to the plane. Light with the perpendicular polarization is said to be
s-polarized, from the German senkrechtperpendicular. When unpolarized light strikes a
surface at Brewster's angle, the reflected light is always s-polarized.
The physical mechanism for this can be qualitatively understood from the manner in
which electric dipoles in the media respond to p-polarized light. One can imagine that
light incident on the surface is absorbed, and then reradiated by oscillating electric
dipoles at the interface between the two media. The polarization of freely propagating
light is always perpendicular to the direction in which the light is travelling. The dipoles
that produce the transmitted (refracted) light oscillate in the polarization direction of that
light. These same oscillating dipoles also generate the reflected light. However, dipoles
do not radiate any energy in the direction along which they oscillate. Consequently, if the
direction of the refracted light is perpendicular to the direction in which the light is
predicted to be specularly reflected, the dipoles will not create any reflected light. Since,
by definition, the s-polarization is parallel to the interface, the corresponding oscillating
dipoles will always be able to radiate in the specular-reflection direction. This is why
there is no Brewster's angle for s-polarized light.
With simple trigonometry this condition can be expressed as:

where 1 is the angle of incidence and 2 is the angle of refraction.

Using Snell's law,

we can calculate the incident angle 1=B at which no light is reflected:

Rearranging, we get:

where n1 and n2 are the refractive indices of the two media. This equation is known as
Brewster's law.
Note that, since all p-polarized light is refracted (i.e transmitted), any light reflected from
the interface at this angle must be s-polarized. A glass plate or a stack of plates placed at
Brewster's angle in a light beam can thus be used as a polarizer.
For a glass medium (n21.5) in air (n11), Brewster's angle for visible light is
approximately 56 to the normal while for an air-water interface (n21.33), it's
approximately 53. Since the refractive index for a given medium changes depending on
the wavelength of light, Brewster's angle will also vary with wavelength.
The phenomenon of light being polarized by reflection from a surface at a particular
angle was first observed by Etienne-Louis Malus in 1808. He attempted to relate the
polarizing angle to the refractive index of the material, but was frustrated by the
inconsistent quality of glasses available at that time. In 1815, Brewster experimented with
higher-quality materials and showed that this angle was a function of the refractive index,
defining Brewster's law.
Although Brewster's angle is generally presented as a zero-reflection angle in textbooks
from the late 1950s onwards, it truly is a polarizing angle. The concept of a polarizing
angle can be extended to the concept of a Brewster wave number to cover planar
interfaces between two linear bianisotropic materials.