ELECTROMAGNETISM - MIDTERM EXAM

Exam review: Monday 31/03/2014 10:00-12:00, D3-002

1) [2 pts] A cylindrical capacitor stands vertically with its base touching the
free surface of a liquid dielectric of relative permittivity r and mass density .
The inner and outer radii are equal to a and b, respectively, and the capacitors
length is L >> b so that edge effects may be ignored. When a voltage
difference V is applied across the capacitor, the liquid raises up to a height h
inside it, while the rest is filled with air, for which r = 1. Find:
a) the capacitance as a function of h;
b) the equilibrium value of h as function of the geometrical and material
parameters (hint: the electrostatic force that pulls the liquid dielectric inside
the capacitor must equal its weight).
2) [2.5 pts] A very long cylinder made of a linear magnetic material with relative permeability r is
= perpendicular to the
embedded in a region with r = 1 where an otherwise uniform magnetic field
cylinder axis is present. The cylinder radius is a.
a) Give the expression of the total magnetic field B created as a result of insertion of the cylinder, in terms of
distance to the cylinder axis (s), angle with respect to the applied field (), applied field modulus (B0),
geometrical (a) and material (r) parameters, and common unitary vectors.
b) If a very thin disk-shaped cavity is hollowed out of the material with the disk axis (normal to the disk
surface) parallel to , find the relation between the B-field near the middle of the cavity and the B-field
inside the material.
c) If instead a very thin needle-shaped cavity with the needles axis parallel to is hollowed out from the
material, find the relation between the B-field near the middle of the cavity and the B-field inside the
material. Justify all your answers.
3) [3 pts] An electrical dipole consisting of two opposite
charges +q and q separated by a finite distance d lies outside a
grounded conducting sphere of radius a centered at the origin.
The center of the two charges lies at (x, 0, 0) and the dipole is
parallel to k. Consider d << x so that the distance of each
charge to the origin can also be taken to be x. Find:
a) the magnitude, orientation and position of the corresponding
image dipole, as a function of x (for this you have to consider
separately each external charge)
b) the value of the induced surface charge density on the sphere at the point (a, 0, 0)
In the dipolar approximation, determine:
c) the torque on the external dipole
d) the electrostatic energy of the system as a function of x, the direction of the force on the external dipole
and a expression for such force as a derivative in the variable x (you dont need to carry out the derivative,
just simplify the result and leave the derivative indicated)
Would any of your results change if the sphere was neutral and floating instead of grounded? If so, which
ones?
4) [2.5 pts] The space between two identical parallel metallic plates of surface area S = L2 is completely
filled up with two layers of dielectric with thicknesses d1 and d2 arranged so that the interface between them
is parallel to the plates and with d1+d2 << L so that edge-effects may be neglected. The relative permittivities
are 1 and 2 and the conductivities are g1 and g2. A battery connected to the plates maintains a fixed voltage
difference V between them, with the lower voltage plate in contact with the first dielectric (the one with 1
and g1). In terms of V and geometrical and material parameters, find:
a) the expression of the electric field between the plates;
b) the free, bound, and total charge distributions (for the metallic plates you may take so that even
when a finite current density flows through them you can consider that approximately 0 inside);
c) the power provided by the battery.
d) Briefly discuss if and how the concept of capacitance may apply to such an arrangement.