DIVERGENCE and MAXWELL’S FIRST EQUATION
Charge enclosed in volume v is
Now, as the volume element v is shrinking to zero, we get
For any vector A,
The divergence of A is defined as
The divergence of the vector flux density A is the outflow of flux from
a small closed surface per unit volume as the volume shrinks to zero.
The divergence operation is performed on a vector and its result is a
scalar. Divergence tells us how much flux is leaving a small volume on
a per-unit-volume basis; no direction is associated with it.
Now, the relation between electric flux density and charge density is:
This is the Maxwell’s first equation. This equation is called the point
form of Gauss’s law. It states that the electric flux per unit volume
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leaving a vanishingly small volume unit is exactly equal to the volume
charge density.
Consider the divergence of D in the region about a point charge Q
located at the origin.
The divergence in spherical coordinates:
Dθ and Dφ are zero for point charge located at the origin.
Thus, ρν=0 everywhere except at the origin, where it is infinite.
The Vector Operator and The Divergence Theorem
The del operator is a vector operator.
· D in a rectangular coordinate system:
Consider the dot products of the unit vectors. Six terms are zero. They
are discarded. Therefore,
The divergence theorem applies to any vector field for which the
appropriate partial derivatives exist.
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From Gauss’s law,
The first and last expressions constitute the divergence theorem.
The divergence theorem: The integral of the normal component
of any vector field over a closed surface is equal to the integral of the
divergence of this vector field throughout the volume enclosed by the
closed surface.
Energy Expended in Moving a Point Charge in an Electric Field
The electric field intensity at a given point is defined as the force on a
unit test charge. If a test charge is moved against the electric field, there
is expenditure of energy or a specified work is to be done. This requires
a force equal and opposite to that exerted by the field. If a test charge
is moved in the direction of the field, energy expenditure becomes
negative. we do not do the work, the field does.
Suppose a charge Q is moved a distance dL in an electric field E. The
force on Q arising from the electric field is
The component of this force in the direction dL:
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aL = a unit vector in the direction of dL.
The force that we must apply is equal and opposite to the force
associated with the field:
The expenditure of energy is the product of the force and distance.
Therefore, differential work done by an external source moving charge
Q is
The work required to move the charge a finite distance is determined
by
THE LINE INTEGRAL
The integral expression for the work done in moving a point charge Q
from one position to another is:
Without using vector analysis, it can be represented as
EL= component of E along dL.
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A graphical interpretation of a line integral in a uniform field.
Choose a path from an initial position B to a final position. Assume a
uniform electric field. Divide the path into six segments, L1, L2, . .
., L6 and the components of E along each segment are EL1, EL2, . . .,
EL6 respectively.
The work involved in moving a charge Q from B to A is:
Using vector notation:
For a uniform field,
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The sum of vector segments is the vector directed from the initial point
B to the final point A: LBA.
Using the summation interpretation of the line integral:
For a given electric field intensity, the work involved in moving the
charge depends only on Q, E, and LBA (a vector drawn from the initial
to the final point of the path chosen).
It does not depend on the path selected along which the charge is
moved.
a. Find the work done in carrying the positive charge Q about a
circular path of radius ρ1 centered at the line charge.
The differential element dL is chosen in cylindrical coordinates. For the
circular path, dρ and dz are zero.
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For an infinite line charge:
The work is:
The path is always perpendicular to the electric field intensity, or the
force on the charge is always applied at right angles to the direction in
which charge is moving. Therefore, the work done is 0.
b. Move the charge from ρ=a to ρ=b along a radial path. Here dL = dρaρ
The work done is given by:
The work done is negative. This indicates that the external source that
is moving the charge receives energy.
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Suppose we move Q from b to a. Now, ρ = b is the initial point and ρ=a
is the final point.
The work done is positive. This indicates that the external source that
is moving the charge supplies energy.
Definition of Potential Difference and Potential
The potential difference V is the work done in moving a unit positive
charge from one point to another in an electric field.
VAB is the potential difference between points A and B. This is the work
done in moving a unit charge from B to A. Thus, in VAB, B is the initial
point and A is the final point. Potential difference is measured in joules
per coulomb or volts. The potential difference between points A and B
is
For the line-charge, the work done in taking a charge Q from ρ=b to
ρ=a is:
Thus, the potential difference between points at ρ=a and ρ=b is
The potential difference between points A and B at radial distances rA
and rB from a point charge Q:
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Thus, the potential difference:
If rB > rA, the potential difference VAB is positive. This indicates that
energy is spent by the external source in bringing the positive charge
from rB to rA.
If the potential at point A is VA and that at B is VB, then
The Potential Field of a Point Charge
The potential difference between points A and B at radial distances rA
and rB from a point charge Q placed at the origin is
Consider a zero reference for potential at infinity i.e. the point rB is
located at infinity.
Discarding the subscript A,
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This is the potential at a distance r from a point charge Q placed at the
origin. Here, the potential at infinite radius is taken as the zero
reference. The amount of work done in carrying a unit charge from
infinity to any point r meters from the charge Q is defined by
To represent the potential without selecting a specific zero reference,
let Q/πr be a constant.
C1 may be selected so that V = 0 at any desired value of r.
An equipotential surface is a surface composed of all those points
having the same value of potential. All field lines would be
perpendicular to such a surface at the points where they intersect it.
Therefore, no work is involved in moving a unit charge around on an
equipotential surface.
POTENTIAL GRADIENT
The general line integral relationship between potential and the electric
field intensity:
The incremental potential difference V for a very short element of
length L along which E is constant is
Consider a general region of space in which E and V both change from
one point to another point.
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A vector incremental element of length L is shown making an angle
of θ with an E field.
The incremental vector element of length L = L aL
If the angle between L and E is θ, then
V is a single-valued function V(x, y, z). Now, consider the derivative
dV/dL.
The maximum positive increment of potential Vmax will occur when
cos θ is −1. For this condition, L points in the direction opposite to E.
The characteristics of the relationship between E and V at any point:
1. The magnitude of the electric field intensity is given by the
maximum value of the rate of change of potential with distance.
2. This maximum value is obtained when the direction of the distance
increment is opposite to E or, the direction of E is opposite to the
direction in which the potential is increasing.
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A potential field is shown by its equipotential surfaces. At any point,
the E field is normal to the equipotential surface passing through that
point and is directed toward the more negative surfaces.
V = 0 by the definition of an equipotential surface. Thus,
As E and L are nonzero, E must be perpendicular to L or
perpendicular to the equipotential surface.
Let aN be a unit vector normal to the equipotential surface and directed
toward the higher potentials. The electric field intensity in terms of the
potential is,
Because dV/d L maximum occurs when L is in the direction of aN,
The operation on V by which −E is obtained is known as the gradient,
and the gradient of a scalar field T is defined as
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aN is a unit vector normal to the equipotential surfaces, which points in
the direction of increasing values of T.
----Eq1
V is a function of x, y, and z. Its total differential is
Also,
Then,
The electric field intensity in the vector form:
The gradient of a scalar is a vector. Thus, the gradient of potential is:
From Eq1:
Gradient of V in different coordinate systems:
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Current and Current Density
Electric charges in motion constitute a current. Current is represented
by I and the unit of current is ampere (A). 1 ampere is equal to 1
coulomb of charge passing a given reference point in 1 second.
Current density is measured in amperes per square meter. Current
density is a vector represented by J.
The increment of current I crossing an incremental surface S is
Total current is obtained by,
Consider an element of charge, Q =ρνν = ρνSL shown in fig.a.
Assume that the charge element is oriented with edges parallel to the
coordinate axes and it has only an x component of velocity.
An increment of charge, Q = ρνSL, which moves a distance x in
a time t, produces a component of current density in the limit of Jx =
ρ νν x
In the time interval t, the element of charge has moved a distance x
as shown in fig.b. Thus, a charge of Q = ρνSx is moved through a
reference plane perpendicular to the direction of motion in a time
interval of t.
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The resulting current is
Here, x/t is the x component of the velocity. Therefore,
The x component of the current density: Jx = I/S.
Thus,
In general, Current density in terms of the velocity of volume charge
density at a point is
This shows that charge in motion constitutes a current. This type of
current is a convection current, and J is the convection current density.
Continuity of Current
The principle of conservation of charge: The charges can be neither
created nor destroyed, although equal amounts of positive and negative
charge may be simultaneously created by separation, or lost by
recombination.
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The current through the closed surface is:
This outward flow of positive charge must be balanced by a decrease
of positive charge within the closed surface. Suppose, the charge inside
the closed surface is denoted by Qi. Then, the rate of decrease of charge
is:
Using the principle of conservation of charge, integral form of the
continuity equation is represented as:
-----Eq1
The differential form or point form is obtained by using the divergence
theorem to change the surface integral into a volume integral.
-----Eq2
The enclosed charge Qi is equal to the volume integral of the charge
density.
From Eq1 and Eq2:
Thus, the point form of the continuity equation is:
Therefore, the current diverging from a small volume per unit volume
is equal to the time rate of decrease of charge per unit volume at every
point.
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