Engineering Electromagnetics

Lecture 3

Dr.-Ing. Erwin Sitompul

President University

http://zitompul.wordpress.com
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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

About 1837, the Director of the Royal Society in London,
Michael Faraday, was interested in static electric fields and the
effect of various insulating materials on these fields.
This is the lead to his famous invention, the electric motor.
He found that if he moved a magnet through a loop of wire, an
electric current flowed in the wire. The current also flowed if the
loop was moved over a stationary magnet.
Changing magnetic field produces an electric field.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

In his experiments, Faraday had a pair of concentric metallic
spheres constructed, the outer one consisting of two
hemispheres that could be firmly clamed together.
He also prepared shells of insulating material (or dielectric
material), which would occupy the entire volume between the
concentric spheres.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

Faraday found out, that there was a sort of charge
displacement from the inner sphere to the outer sphere, which
was independent of the medium.
We refer to this flow as displacement, displacement flux, or
simply electric flux.
Q

Where is the electric flux, measured in coulombs, and Q is

the total charge on the inner sphere, also in coulombs.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

At the surface of the inner sphere,
coulombs of electric flux are produced
by the given charge Q coulombs, and
distributed uniformly over a surface
having an area of 4a2 m2.
The density of the flux at this surface
is /4a2 or Q/4a2 C/m2.

The new quantity, electric flux density, is measured in C/m2 and

denoted with D.
The direction of D at a point is the direction of the flux lines at
that point.
The magnitude of D is given by the number of flux lines
crossing a surface normal to the lines divided by the surface
area.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

Referring again to the concentric
spheres, the electric flux density is in
the radial direction :
Q
D r a a (inner sphere)
4 a 2 r

Q
D r b a (outer sphere)
4 b 2 r

At a distance r, where a r b,
Q
D a
4 r 2 r

If we make the inner sphere smaller and smaller, it becomes a

point charge while still retaining a charge of Q. The electrix flux
density at a point r meters away is still given by:
Q
D a
4 r 2 r

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

Comparing with the previous chapter, the radial electric field
intensity of a point charge in free space is:
Q
E a
4 0 r 2 r

Therefore, in free space, the following relation applies:

D 0E

For a general volume charge distribution in free space:

v dv
E a
vol 4 R 2 R
0

v dv
D a
vol 4 R 2 R

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

Example
Find the electric flux density at a point having a distance 3 m
from a uniform line charge of 8 nC/m lying along the z axis in
free space.

L L 8 109 1.273 109

E a D a a a C m2
2 0 2 2

For the value = 3 m,

1.273 109
D 4.244 1010 a C m 2 0.424a nC m2
3

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Electric Flux Density

Example
Calculate D at point P(6,8,10) produced by a uniform surface
charge density with s = 57.2 C/m2 on the plane x = 9.

s s 57.2 10 6
E aN D aN a N 28.6a N C m 2
2 0 2 2

At P(6,8,10),
a N = a x D 28.6a x C m 2

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Gausss Law
The results of Faradays experiments with the concentric
spheres could be summed up as an experimental law by stating
that the electric flux passing through any imaginary spherical
surface lying between the two conducting spheres is equal to
the charge enclosed within that imaginary surface.
Q

Faradays experiment can be generalized to the following

statement, which is known as Gausss Law:
The electric flux passing through any closed surface is
equal to the total charge enclosed by that surface.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Gausss Law
Imagine a distribution of charge, shown as a cloud of point
charges, surrounded by a closed surface of any shape.

If the total charge is Q, the Q coulombs of electric flux will pass

through the enclosing surface.
At every point on the surface the electric-flux-density vector D
will have some value DS (subscript S means that D must be
evaluated at the surface).

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Gausss Law
S defines an incremental element of area with magnitude of
S and the direction normal to the plane, or tangent to the
surface at the point in question.
At any point P, where DS makes an angle with S, then the
flux crossing S is the product of the normal components of DS
and S.
flux crossing S DS cos S DS S
d
closed DS dS
surface

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Gausss Law
The resultant integral is a closed surface integral, with dS
always involves the differentials of two coordinates
The integral is a double integral.
We can formulate the Gausss law mathematically as:
DS dS charge enclosed Q

S

The charge enclosed meant by the formula above might be

several point charges, a line charge, a surface charge, or a
volume charge distribution.
Q Qn Q L dL Q S dS Q v dv
S vol

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Gausss Law
We now take the last form, written in terms of the charge
distribution, to represent the other forms:
D
S
S dS v dv
vol

Illustration. Let a point charge Q be

placed at the origin of a spherical
coordinate system, and choose a
closed surface as a sphere of radius a.
The electric field intensity due to the
point charge
Q
has been found to be:
E ar
4 0 r 2

Q
D 0E D a
4 r 2 r

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Gausss Law
At the surface, r = a,
Q
DS a
4 a 2 r

dS a 2 sin d d a r
Q 2 Q
D S dS a sin d d a
a sin d d
4 a 4
2 r r

S DS dS

2 Q
sin d d
0 0 4
r a

Q 2
cos 0
4 0

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

Let us now consider how to use the Gausss law to calculate

the electric field intensity DS:
DS dS
Q
S

The solution will be easy if we are able to choose a closed

surface which satisfies two conditions:
1. DS is everywhere either normal or tangential to the closed
surface, so that DSdS becomes either DSdS or zero,
respectively.
2. On that portion of the closed surface for which DSdS is not
zero, DS is constant.

For point charge The surface of a sphere.

For line charge The surface of a cylinder.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

From the previous discussion of the

uniform line charge, only the radial
component of D is present:
D D a

The choice of a surface that fulfill the

requirement is simple: a cylindrical
surface.
D is every normal to the surface of a
cylinder. It may then be closed by two
plane surfaces normal to the z axis.

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

DS dS
Q
S

D dS Dz dS z Dz dS z
sides top zL bottom z 0
L 2
D d dz
z 0 0

D 2 L
Q
D
2 L
We know that the charge enclosed is LL,
L
D
2
L
E
2 0

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

The problem of a coaxial cable is almost

identical with that of the line charge.
Suppose that we have two coaxial
cylindrical conductors, the inner of radius
a and the outer of radius b, both with
infinite length.
We shall assume a charge distribution of
S on the outer surface of the inner
conductor.
Choosing a circular cylinder of length L and radius , a < < b,
as the gaussian surface, we find:
Q DS 2 L

The total charge on a length L of the inner conductor is:

L 2 aS
Q S ad dz 2 aL S DS
z 0 0

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

For one meter length, the inner conductor

has 2aS coulombs, hence L = 2aS,
L
D a
2

Everly line of electrix flux starting from the

inner cylinder must terminate on the inner
surface of the outer cylinder:
Qouter cyl 2 aL S ,inner cyl
2 bL S ,outer cyl 2 aL S ,inner cyl Due to simplicity,
a noise immunity and
S ,outer cyl S ,inner cyl broad bandwidth,
b coaxial cable is still
If we use a cylinder of radius > b, the most common
then the total charge enclosed will be zero. means of data
transmission over
There is no external field, short distances.
DS 0
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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

Example
A 50-cm length of coaxial cable has an inner radius of 1 mm
and an outer radius of 4 mm. The space between conductors is
assumed to be filled with air. The total charge on the inner
conductor is 30 nC. Find the charge density on each conductor
and the expressions for E and D fields.

Qinner cyl 2 aL S ,inner cyl Qouter cyl 2 bL S ,outer cyl Qinner cyl
Qinner cyl Qinner cyl
S ,inner cyl S ,outer cyl
2 aL 2 bL
30 109 30 109

2 (103 )(0.5) 2 (4 10 3 )(0.5)
9.55 C m 2 2.39 C m 2

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Application of Gausss Law: Some Symmetrical Charge Distributions

S ,inner cyl D
D a E
0
6
3 (9.55 10 ) 9.55 109
10
8.854 1012
9.55 1079
nC m 2 V m

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 Chapter 3 Electric Flux Density, Gausss Law, and Divergence

Homework 3
D3.3.
D3.4.
D3.5. All homework problems from Hayt and Buck, 7th Edition.

Deadline: 1 February 2011, at 07:30.

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