184 Classical Electromagnetism

So with zero applied field, the polarization can be in the upward or downward direction,
depending on the previous application of the field. Such properties make ferroelectric materials
a suitable class for computer memory applications. You can arrange for an array of ferroelectric
particles and also for the application of electric fields in the upward and downward directions
at specific locations of the particles. Call polarization in one direction 0 and that in the opposite
direction 1. So by applying electric fields in proper directions, you can write any information
in terms of 0 and 1 in this array of particles. The memory would be nonvolatile, because even if
the power is switched off and the fields go to zero, the polarizations in the particles will retain
their directions.

Concepts at a Glance

1. D  0 E  P

2. d· D  Pfree, y da  qfree, enclosed

3. D1n  D2n  f
4. For a linear dielectric, D  K0 E, P  0 E,   K  1.
5. The dielectric constant of water for a constant electric field is very high, 80.
1
6. The electrostatic energy density in a dielectric (including the dipole–dipole interactions) is u  2
K E .
2 0
7. In ferroelectric materials like BaTiO 3, electric dipoles make domains and there can be polarization
even without an applied electric field.

EXERCISES

Based on Concepts
1. We define potential corresponding to the electrostatic field E. Can we define potential due to the
displacement field D? Justify your answer.
2. In vacuum, D and E must be parallel. True or false?
3. What is d#(D  P) in an electrostatic situation?
4. In a linear dielectric material, the magnitude of the displacement vector D at any point is always larger
than that of the polarization vector. True or false?
5. Which of the fields D, E, P must necessarily change as you come out of a linear dielectric placed in an
electric field?
 Displacement Field: Linear Dielectrics 185

6. The space inside a thin, spherical, conducting shell of radius R is filled with a dielectric material of
dielectric constant K. The shell is given a charge Q. What is the field inside the shell? What is the field
outside the conducting shell?

Problems
1. The space between the plates of a parallel-plate capacitor is
completely filled with two slabs of linear dielectric materials
(Figure 9E.1). Each slab has thickness a so the total distance
between the plates is 2a. Slab 1 has a dielectric constant 2 and
Slab 2 has a dielectric constant 1.5. The free charge density on the
top plate (on the inner side of Slab 1) is  and that on the bottom
plate is  .
(a) Find D, P and E in each slab. Fig. 9E.1
(b) Find the potential difference between the plates.
(c) Find the location and amount of all the bound charges.
(d) From the charges, calculate the field E in each slab and see that you get back the values found in
 ^ 2 ^ 
part (a). [Ans. (a) D  n^ everywhere; E   n in Slab 1 and n in Slab 2; P  n^ in Slab 1
20 30 2
 ^ ^
and n in Slab 2, n is the unit vector in the downward direction.]
3
2. A parallel-plate capacitor is made from plates of area A
separated by a distance d. Half the space between the
plates is filled with a dielectric material of dielectric
constant K as shown in Figure 9E.2. If the capacitor is
maintained at a potential difference V, find
(a) D and E in each half of the capacitor, Fig. 9E.2
(b) the bound charge density appearing on the dielectric, and
(c) the electrostatic energy.
2
0 KV ^  V  V A
[Ans. (a) D  e o n in the dielectric; 0 V n^ in the other half; (b) 0 (K  1); (c) 0 (K  1)]
d d d 4d
3. Consider the situation shown in Figure 9E.3.
All the surfaces of the metal plates and the
dielectric slabs are large.   and   are the
surface charge densities on the plates. Show
separately plots of D, E and P as functions of z.

Fig. 9E.3

4. A water molecule has a dipole moment of 6.0 #10 30 C m. Suppose the molecules have their dipoles
aligned parallel to each other in a drop (radius 0.2 mm) of water. Find the maximum electric field just
outside the surface of the drop. [Ans. 1.5 #1010 V/m]
186 Classical Electromagnetism

5. A positive point charge q is placed at the centre of a spherical shell made of a material with dielectric
constant 1.5 and inner and outer radii a and b. Find the fields D, P and E everywhere.
q D0 D0
[Ans. D  D0  everywhere, E   for r  a and r  b, for a  r  b,
4r 2 0 
0K
D0 (K  1)
P for a  r  b, 0 otherwise]
K
6. A long conducting cylinder of radius R carries a uniform surface charge density . It is surrounded
by a coaxial dielectric shell of inner and outer radii a and b, the dielectric constant of the shell being
K. Find (a) D in the dielectric, (b) the electric field everywhere, and (c) the bound charge densities
(K  1) R (K  1) R
appearing on the shell. [Ans. (c)  on the inner surface and on the outer surface]
Ka Kb
7. A long line charge with linear charge density  is embedded along the axis of a long, solid, cylindrical
dielectric of dielectric constant K. Find the D and P vectors outside and inside the dielectric.

b1  l^s ]
1
[Ans. P inside the dielectric 
2r K
8. A coaxial, cylindrical capacitor has inner and outer radii a and 4a. The space between the surfaces
is filled with two coaxial, cylindrical layers of dielectric materials. One of the layers has a dielectric
constant of 1.5 and occupies the space a  s  2a. The other layer, having a dielectric constant of 3.0,
20
occupies the space 2a  s  4a. Find the capacitance of the capacitor per unit length. [Ans. ]
ln 2
9. An infinite circular cylinder of dielectric constant K is placed in a vacuum that has a transverse uniform
2E0
electric field E0 . Assuming the polarization to be uniform, find the field inside the dielectric. [Ans.  ]
K 1
10. A spherical conductor of radius a, carries a charge Q. It is surrounded by a linear dielectric material of
Q 2 [b  a (K 2  1)]
susceptibility e, up to a radius b. Find the energy of this configuration. [Ans. 2
]
80 K ab
11. A cylinder of length 2L and radius L is placed with its centre at the origin and the axis along the z-axis.
^
It is uniformly polarized with polarization P0 k. Let  be a very small length. (a) Sketch the D field lines.
(b) Find the value of D at (0, 0, L  ) . (c) What is the value of D at (0, 0, L  ) ? (d) Find the value of D at
P ^ P ^ P ^
the origin. [Ans. (b) k (c) k ( d) k]
5 5 2
12. A long, thin rod of dielectric constant K is placed in an otherwise uniform external electric field E0
along the axis of the rod. Find the D vector inside the rod, away from the ends. [Ans. 0 KE0]
13. A thin disk of radius R, thickness d ( R) and dielectric constant K is placed in an otherwise uniform
electric field E0 along the axis of the disk. Find the D vector inside the disk, away from the edges.
[Ans. 0 E0]
14. A metallic sphere of radius a is placed concentrically within a spherical, metallic shell of inner and
outer radii b and c respectively. The space between the two is filled with a dielectric material of
dielectric constant K. The inner sphere is given a charge q. Find E, P and D fields for each of the regions
r  a, a  r  b, b  r  c and r  c. [Hint: D is the same for all the regions where r  a]
15. A dielectric sphere of radius R and dielectric constant K has a concentric cavity of radius a . A particle
of charge q is placed at the centre of the cavity. Find all charge densities appearing in the sphere.
q (K  1)
[Ans.  at the inner surface]
4Ka 2
 Displacement Field: Linear Dielectrics 187

16. A large piece of dielectric of irregular shape is placed in an external electric field. The resultant electric
field inside the dielectric is E0 everywhere and the polarization is P, so that the displacement is
D0  0 E0  P. Assume that the polarization remains uniform even when cavities are carved out in the
dielectric. A small, spherical cavity is carved out of the material. Find the field in the cavity in terms of
P , 2
E0 and P. Also find the displacement in the cavity in terms of D0 and P. [Ans. E0  D0  P]
30 3

17. A tank is filled with distilled water, which has a dielectric constant of 80. A nearly uniform electric
field is set up in the air above the water. Taking the x–y plane on the water surface, and the z-axis
^ ^
pointing vertically upwards, the field above the water is E  (100 i  100k ) V/m. Find the polarization of
the water just below the surface. What is the bound charge density on the water surface?
[Ans. b  0 (99 V/m)]
18. A cylindrical capacitor of inner and outer radii a and b is kept vertically in a liquid of dielectric
constant K and density . The height of the capacitor above the liquid surface is H. The capacitor plates
are connected to a battery which maintains a potential difference between them at V. (a) Suppose,
at a certain instant, the liquid is up to a height h in the capacitor. Find the electrostatic field energy
stored in the capacitor. (b) Suppose the height is further increased by dh. Show that the work done by
the battery is twice the increase in electrical energy. (c) Using the principle of conservation of energy,
dV
show that the electrical force on the liquid is given by F  and find its value. (d) Work out the
dh
0 V (K  1) 0 (K  1) V 2
2 2
0 V
value of h at equilibrium. [Ans. (a) [(K  1) h  H] (c) (d) ]
ln (b/a) ln (b/a) g (b 2  a 2) ln (b/a)
tan  2 K2
19. Show that the electric field lines “refract” at the interface between two dielectrics obeying  ,
tan 1 K1
where  denotes the angle of the electric field with the normal and K denotes the dielectric constant.
20. Suppose the region z  0 is filled with a dielectric of dielectric constant 4 and the region z  0 is filled
with a dielectric of dielectric constant 3. Both regions have uniform electric fields. The field in z  0 is
^ ^ ^
given by E1  (5 i  2j  3k ) V/mm. Find
(a) the electric field in the region z  0,
(b) the angles made by the fields in the two regions with the interface,
(c) the energy density in both regions,
(d) the energy within a cube of side 2 cm centred on (3 cm, 4 cm, –5 cm), and
(e) the surface charge density appearing at the interface.
[Ans. (a) b i 2j 3kl V/mm, (d) b V/mml 0]
20 ^  ^  ^ 5
3 3
21. Consider a parallel-plate capacitor with charge Q, detached from the voltage source. The plates have
length l and width b, and are separated by a distance d. A dielectric slab of thickness d and width b is
partially inserted in the capacitor with a length x inside the capacitor. Find the force exerted by the
Q2 d K1
capacitor on the slab. [Ans. ]
20 b [l  x (K  1)] 2


 10 Electric Currents

10.1 Introduction
An electric bulb glows when there is a current in the filament, a ceiling fan rotates when there is
a current in its coils, your body parts receive signals from the brain when there is a current in the
neurons, and so on. What is electric current?

As you know, an electric current results from the flow of charges. We generally talk about
electric current through a surface. If charges cross a surface from one side to the other, we say
there is a current through the surface. The direction of the current is the same as that of the
flow of the charges if the charges are positive [Figure 10.1(a)], and is opposite to the direction of
flow if they are negative [Figure 10.1(b)]. If both positive and negative charges cross the surface
simultaneously, you have to add contributions from each, carefully looking at the corresponding
directions [Figure 10.1(c)].

Fig. 10.1

If a net charge Tq flows through a surface in time Tt, the average current through this surface
during this time is
Tq
iav  ·
Tt
If Tt is very small, the average current tends to the instantaneous current at that time.
dq
i · (10.1)
dt
188