Module 3 : Maxwell's Equations

Lecture 19 : Electrostatics

Objectives

In this course you will learn the following

Electric field E and Electric Displacement Density D.

Electric Scalar Potential.

Module 3 : Maxwell's Equations

Lecture 19 : Electrostatics

Electric field and Electric Displacement Density

Consider a charge Q at some location in space. For simplicity we generally assume the charge to be
located at the
origin of the co-ordinate system as shown in Fig.

Let us now place a test charge at a distance from the origin. Then according to the `Coloumb's law'

the test charge will experience a force . The force will be attractive if and are of opposite sign,

and the force will be repulsive if and are of same sign. Consequently, for charges with same
polarity, the force will have direction indicated by the thick arrow, and for charges with opposite polarity
the force will be in the direction of the dotted arrow. In both the cases the force vector is along the line
joining the two charges. The force is given as

Here is the unit vector in the direction of the thick arrow. The electric field at point P is defined by the
force per unit test charge, giving,

The force and are vector quantities and they have same direction. It is interesting to note that as the

test charge reduces to zero, the force also reduces to zero but the electric field remains
unchanged. The electric field therefore does not require a test charge for its existance although its

presence can be felt only by placing a test charge on that location. The quantity is a characteristic

parameter of the medium surrounding the charge , and is called the permittivity of the medium. Even no

medium like vaccuum has a finite permittivity, and is generally denoted by . The permittivity of the free-
space (vacuum) is

Generally, other media have permittivities higher than that of vaccuum. The ratio of and is called

the relative permittivity or the dielectric constant of the medium and is denoted by .

We observe here that since the permittivity is different for different media, the same charge produces
different electric fields at the same distance from in different media. A quantity which remains

independent of the medium characteristics is called the electric displacement density, and is defined
as the product of the electric field and the medium permittivity. Hence,
 Module 3 : Maxwell's Equations

Lecture 19 : Electrostatics

Electric Scalar Potential

In the presence of an electric field if we move a charge from one point to another, we have to do a work. The work done
essentially is stored in the charge in the form of potential energy. This energy is characterised by a parameter called the electric

potential. Since the work done is a scalar quantity, this potential is called electric scalar potential. The electric potential of a

point with respect to some reference point is defined as the work done in carrying a unit positive charge from point to

. Then by defination the potential of the reference point is zero as the work done in carrying a unit charge from to itself is
identically zero.

Let us say that the point is at an infinitesimally small distance ` ' from as shown in Fig

Then if the electric field at is the work required to move a unit charge from to is

Without losing generality we can take the point as the origin of a co-ordinate system. Since the point can have any

arbitrary location with respect to the co-ordinate axes the length vector in general has three components along the three
principal axes.

Similarly the electric field can be written in its components as

Substituting for and , we get

Now if the potential of the point is , the change in potential over infinitesimal distance (using differential calculus) is

Realizing that

Substituting for , we get

Now since the charge has been moved over a finite distance the length dl can not be zero. Therefore

The electric field is negative of the gradient of the electric scalar potential.

Note :
This statement is true only for non-time varying fields. As will be shown later, this in general is not true for time varying
fields.
 Module 3 : Maxwell's Equations

Lecture 19 : Electrostatics

Recap

In this course you have learnt the following

Electric field E and Electric Displacement Density D.

Electric Scalar Potential.