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SUPPORTING THEORY:

Electric current is a flow of charge and its density, J, is given by Current/Area in simple one
dimensional case. Electric field presents when there is a potential difference across any medium,
such as parallel plate and model resistor configurations in this experiment. The potential difference,
V, is actually the change in potential energy of a charge at one potential to another and electric field,
E, is about the force on the charge at any points (F=qE). Any other charge placed in this field then
experiences a Coulomb force. The direction of force depends on the polarity of the charge.
When the charge is moved a small distance, the work done, W, by external force is now a line
A

E
B

integral which is by integration for moving from A to B where WAB= -Q


l. The force and
therefore the work to move the test charge from one location to another is proportional to its charge.
Thus the work per unit charge, or electric potential difference, is independent of the magnitude of
A

E
B

charge, so that electric potential characterizes the electric field itself,


l = VA-VB for the line
integral depends only on their positions. Thus we get E= -V/ l by differentiation. The electric field
between the plates is equal to the potential difference between them divided by their separation.
Electric field is shown as a series of uniform lines which are parallel to each other start on
positively charged surfaces and end on negative charge. These field lines are always at right angles to
the plates and equipotential surfaces. This is because for charge moving around points along
equipotential (VA=VB), the work done is zero since W=Q(VA-VB)=0. The spacing of the lines or
closeness between equipotentials also represents the strength or magnitude of the field.
Equipotentials and field lines are closely related such that the electric field is just the negative
potential gradient.
In words, Kirchhoff's Current Law means in steady state conditions, total current passing
through any closed surface is equal to zero. In two dimensional case, total current is obtained by

J
S

summing all components of I over the complete surface where the surface integral, I=

S.

For a

J
s

closed surface,
S=0 by Kirchhoff's Current Law. The current density varies in magnitude and
direction and it is mapped in the same way as the electric field by drawing lines of current density
which show the direction of the current at each point. This is because the electric current is in the
direction of the electric field.
The equipotentials parallel to the electrode at their surface because the lines are determined
by the direction of the electric field which is perpendicular to the electrode surface in this case. Since
equipotentials are always normal to the field lines, they must be parallel to the surface.
However equipotentials do cross the insulating boundaries at 90 because those insulating
boundaries does not affect the potential lines, plus, the charge distribution is not continuous, unlike
the electrode surface, the lines can be in any direction.

A 2D approximation good for simulating this particular application because 2D provide


better information visualization that focus more on the patterns and trends which is easy to
understand. It is also more efficient for analysis work as the information is one place with shorter
solving time.

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