Electricity and Magnetism - Homework Assigment 1

Alejandro Gomez Espinosa

September 14, 2012

Jackson, 1.4 Each of three charged spheres of radius a, one conducting, one having uni-
form charge density within its volume, and one having a spherically symmetric charge
density that varies radially as rn (n > 3), has a total charge Q. Use Gausss theorem
to obtain the electric fields both inside and outside each sphere. Sketch the behavior
of the fields as function of radius for the first two spheres, and for the third with
n = 2, +2.

(a) In the case of a conducting sphere, the charge resides in the surface. Then, the
electric field inside the sphere, i.e. r < a, is zero.
Outside the sphere, we can use Gausss Law:
I
Qenc
E n da =
S 0
Lets imaging an spherical gaussian surface of radii r, the charge inside will be
Q:
Qenc Q
4r2 |E|b
r= E= rb
0 40 r2
(b) Outside the sphere, the electric field must be as (a). For the field inside the
sphere, we have to calculate the charge density:
Z Z 2 Z Z a
3 4 3 3Q
Qenc = dx = r2 sin dr d d = a =
V 0 0 0 3 4a3
Using Gausss Law:
r
Qr3
Z
2 1 3Q 2
4r |E|b
r= 4r dr =
0 0 4a3 0 a 3
Then, the electric field is:
Qr3 Qr
E= rb = rb
40 r2 a3 40 a3
(c) In the case of the spherically symmetric charge density that varies as rn , we
perform similar to (b):
Z a
4an+3
Z
n 3 Q(n + 2)
Q= r dx = 4 rn+2 dr = =
V 0 n+2 4an+3

gomez@physics.rutgers.edu

1
 Figure 1: Sketching the behavior of the fields of exercise 1.4.

Using Gausss Law:

Z r
2 Q(n + 2) Q  r n+3
4r Eb
r= 4rn+2 dr =
4an+3 0 0 a

Finally, solving for E:

Q  r n+3
E= rb
40 r2 a

(d) The behavior is sketched in Figure 1 .

2
Jackson, 1.5 The time-averaged potential of a neutral hydrogen atom is given by
q er  r 
= 1+
40 r 2
where q is the magnitude of the electronic charge, and 1 = a0 /2, a0 being Bohr
radius. Find the distribution of charge (both continuous and discrete) that will give
this potential and interpret your result physically.
We have to use the Poissons equation:

2 = == 0 2
0
But Laplacian in spherical coordinates, using only the radial part is:
 
1
2 = 2 r2
r r r
Rearranging the potential as:
 
q r 1
= e + 2
40 r
Then, lets build this Laplacian:
   
1 1
= er + +e r
r r 2 r r

r2
      
1
r2 = er r + + er r2
r r r 2 r r
3 2 r
  
2 r r r e 2 r 2 r 1 r 2 1
= e r e + re r e 2
+e r
2 r r r r
3 2 r
  
r e 1
= + er r2
2 r r r
3 2
r e r
= 4er 3 (r)
2
3 r2 er
= 4 3 (r)
2
3 er
 
1 2 4
2
r = 2 3 (r)
r r r 2 r
 3 r 
2 q e 4 3
= 2 (r)
40 2 r
Finally, the distribution of charge is:
3 er
 
q 4 3
= (r)
4 r2 2
The physical meaning is that the delta function represents the charge due to the
positive nucleus, while the second term represents the negative charge of the hydrogen
nucleus.

3
Jackson, 1.6 A simple capacitor is a device formed by two insulated conductors adjacent
to each other. If equal and opposite charges are placed on the conductors, there will
be a certain difference of potential between them. The ratio of the magnitude of
the charge on one conductor to the magnitude of the potential difference is called
capacitance (in SI unit it is measured in farads). Using Gausss law, calculate the
capacitance of
(a) two, large, flat, conducting sheets of area A, separated by a small distance d;
(b) two concentric conducting spheres with radii a, b(b > a);
(c) two concentric conducting cylinders of length L, large compared to their radii
a, b(b > a).
(d) What is the inner diameter of the outer conductor in an air-filled coaxial ca-
ble whose center conductor is a cylindrical wire of diameter 1 mm and whose
capacitance is 3 1011 F/m? 3 1012 F/m?
To solve this problem we have to use Gausss Law to find the electric field in the
capacitor. Once we find E, we can can find the potential difference V with the
formula: Z a
V = E dl
b
and finally, the capacitance is C = Q/V .
(a) If we consider one of the sheets carrying charge +Q and the other Q, we
can imagine the direction of the electric field inside the capacitor. Due to the
incoming and outgoing line fields, the electric field outside these sheets is zero.
Considering a gaussian surface in one of the sheets with area A, we can find
E = Q/A0 . Then, the potential difference is
Z 0 Z 0
Q Qd
V = E dl = dl =
d d A0 A0
And the capacitance:
A0
C=
d
(b) For a two concentric conducting spheres, we do not have charge density inside
the inner sphere and outside the outer sphere. Having only charge density in
the area between the spheres, the electric field is E = Q/(4r2 0 )b
r. We can
calculate the potential difference:
Z a  
Q Q 1 1
V = 2
dr =
b 4r 0 40 a b
and the capacitance:
40
C= 1
1b


a
(c) The electric field in this case is E = Q/(20 rL). Then,
Z a
Q Q a
V = dr = ln
b 2rL0 2L0 b
2L0
C=
ln ab

4
(d) Lets solve the last equation for b:
 
20
b = a exp
C/L

2(8.85 1012 F/m)

 
b = (0.0005 m) exp = 0.00639m
3 1011 F/m
2(8.85 1012 F/m)
 
b = (0.0005 m) exp = 113km
3 1012 F/m

5
Jackson, 1.9 Calculate the attractive force between conductors in the parallel plate capac-
itor (Problem 1.6a) and the parallel cylinder capacitor (Problem 1.7) for

(a) fixed charges on each conductor;

(b) fixed potential difference between conductors.

(a) To calculate the force between conductors, we can use F = QE. In the case
of the parallel plate capacitor, we have already calculated it in Problem 1.6(a).
The electric field due to the parallel plate capacitor is E = Q/(2A0 ). The
attractive force is:

Q2
F =
2A0
For the parallel cylinder capacitor, we can use Gausss Law with a gaussian
cylinder of radius r and length L:
I
Q
Edl =
S 0
Q Q
E2rL = E=
0 2o Lr
Q2
F = EQ =
20 Lr
(b) In the case of the parallel cylinder capacitor, we have found the potential differ-
ence V in Problem 1.6(a): V = Qd/0 A. Then:

V A0
Q=
d
Replacing in the previous equation for our capacitor:

V 2 A0
F =
2d2
On the other hand, in the case of the parallel cylinder recalling the Problem 1.7:
0
C
ln(d/a)

But we know that V = Q/C, then:

 
Q d a
V = ln Q = 0 V ln
0 a d

Finally, replacing Q in the previous equation:

Q2 0 V 2   a 2
F = = ln
20 Ld 2Ld d

6
Jackson, 1.14 Consider the electrostatic Green functions of Section 1.10 for Dirichlet
and Neumann boundary conditions on the surface S bounding the volume V. Apply
Greens theorem with integration variable y and = G(x, y), = G(x0 , y), with
2y G(z, y) = 4(y z). Find an expression for the difference [G(x, x0 ) G(x0 , x)]
in terms of an integral over the boundary surface S.

(a) For Dirichlet boundary conditions on the potential and the associated boundary
condition on the Green function, show that GD (x, x0 ) must be symmetric in x
and x0 .
(b) For Neumann boundary conditions, use the boundary condition (1.45) for FN (x, x0 )
F (x) is symmetric in x and x0 , where
I
1
F (x) = GN (x, y)day
S S

(c) Show that the addition of F (x) to the Green function does not affect the potential
(x). See problem 3.26 for an example of the Neumann Green function.

For the first part of the exercise, we use the Green function:
Z I  
2 2 3
( )d y = day
V S n n
Using the definitions for and :
G(x0 , y)
Z I  
2 0 0 2 3 0 G(x, y)
(G(x, y) G(x , y)G(x , y) G(x, y))d y = G(x, y) G(x , y) day
V S n n
G(x0 , y)
Z Z I  
0 3 0 3 0 G(x, y)
4(yx )G(x, y)d y+ 4(yx)G(x , y)d y = G(x, y) G(x , y) day
V V S n n
G(x0 , y)
I  
0 1 0 G(x, y)
G(x , y) + G(x, y) = G(x, y) G(x , y) day
4 S n n

(a) The Dirichlet boundary conditions is: GD (x, x0 ) = 0 for x0 on S. Replacing this
condition in the right part of the last equation, we found:

G(x, x0 ) G(x0 , x) = 0

when y = x0 . Then: G(x, x0 ) = G(x0 , x), that tell us that GD (x, x0 ) is symmetric.
(b) From (1.45), the simplest allowable boundary condition on GN , for x0 on S, is:
GN 4
(x, x0 ) =
n0 S
Replacing this condition in the equation above:
I I
1 1
G(x, x0 ) G(x0 , x) = G(x, y)day + G(x0 , y)day
S S S S
G(x, x0 ) G(x0 , x) = F (x) F (x0 )
If we rearrange this relation: G(x, x0 ) F (x) = G(x0 , x) F (x0 ), we can see that
the combination G(x, x0 ) F (x) is symmetric in x and x0 .

7
(c) Using equation 1.46 with GN = F (x):
Z I
1 1
(x) = (x0 )F (x)d3 x0 + F (x)da0
40 V 4 S n0
 Z I 
F (x) 1 0 3 0 0
= (x )d x + 0
da
4 0 S n
 ZV I 
F (x) 1 0 3 0 0
= (x )d x + nda
4 0 V S
 Z I 
F (x) 1 0 3 0 0
= (x )d x E nda
4 0 V S

The last part of this equation is clearly Gausss Law, Then (x) = 0. It tells
us that an additional function does not affect the potential (x).