Homework B: Due Friday, Feb 14, 2014 At Conference
Homework B: Due Friday, Feb 14, 2014 at conference. Instructions: Please provide a brief verbal explanation of each step in your solution. State where the formulas are coming from, and why they are applicable here. Use symbols and formulae effectively defining their meaning and making it clear whether they are vectors or scalars. Write legibly, and draw large and clearly labeled sketches.
Homework B involves analyzing three separate but related electrostatics problems using Gauss’s Law and the principle of superposition. The goal is to derive the electric fields generated by a uniformly charged infinite plate, a coaxial charged cylinder, and a charged plate with a cylindrical hole drilled through it. Each part builds upon the previous, illustrating how simple systems can be combined to understand more complex configurations.
Paper For Above instruction
Part (a): Electric Field of an Infinite Charged Plate
The problem considers an infinite, uniformly charged plate with thickness 2h, centered at y=0. The plate’s volume charge density is given as 𝜌 (Greek letter rho), and the goal is to determine the electric field at any point y in space. To analyze this configuration, Gauss’s Law provides an effective approach because of the symmetry and uniformity of surface charge distribution.
First, I conceptualize the geometry: the plate extends infinitely in the x- and z-directions, with a finite thickness along y from −h to +h. Due to the symmetry—specifically, the infinite extent and uniform charge distribution—the electric field should depend only on y and be directed perpendicular to the plate. By symmetry, the field will have no components parallel to the surface.
To apply Gauss’s Law, I choose a cylindrical Gaussian surface aligned with the y-axis, with height 2y and base area A. This choice simplifies the problem because the flux through the cylindrical surface reduces to the sum of the flux through the top and bottom faces, given the uniform field's orientation.
Since the charge is volumetric, the enclosed charge for the Gaussian cylinder can be calculated by integrating the volume charge density over the volume inside the cylinder. But in this case, because of the symmetry, the problem reduces to evaluating the electric field based on the surface charge distribution. The linear charge density per unit area (surface charge density) is obtained as 𝜎 = 𝜌 × 2h.
Gauss’s Law relates the net electric flux through the closed surface to the enclosed charge via:
\[ \oint \mathbf{E} \cdot d\mathbf{A} = \frac{Q_{\text{enc}}}{\varepsilon_0} \]
Due to symmetry, the field only has a y-component: \( \mathbf{E} = E_y(y) \hat{\jmath} \). The flux through the cylinder is:
\[ \Phi = E_y(y) \times 2A \]
assuming the field points outward on both the top and bottom surfaces, but in opposite directions depending on the sign of y.
The enclosed charge \(Q_{\text{enc}}\) for the Gaussian surface depends on the position y:
- For \( y > h \) or \( y
- For \( |y| \leq h \), the Gaussian cylinder encloses a portion of the charged volume, specifically:
\[ Q_{\text{enc}} = \rho \times A \times (|y|) \]
but more directly, since the charge density is uniform and the system is symmetric, the electric field at a point y outside the slab is given by
\[
E_y(y) = \frac{\sigma}{2 \varepsilon_0} \quad \text{for points outside the slab}
\]
and linearly varies within the slab.
Therefore, within the slab \((|y| \leq h)\), the magnitude of the electric field varies linearly from zero at the center to its maximum at the surfaces:
\[
E_y(y) = \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} y
\]
This implies the electric field is proportional to y, directed away from the plane for positive y and toward for negative y. This makes intuitive sense because the field generated by a uniformly charged infinite sheet is constant outside the sheet and linear within the volume if considering thickness.
Graphically, plotting \(E_y(y)\), the curve is a straight line passing through zero at y=0, attaining maximum \(\pm \frac{\rho h}{\varepsilon_0}\) at y=±h.
Expressed as a vector in Cartesian coordinates:
\[
\mathbf{E}(x,y,z) = E_y(y) \hat{\jmath} = \left( \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} y \right)\hat{\jmath}
\]
which indicates the electric field points perpendicular to the plane, proportional to y, and symmetric about the mid-plane at y=0.
---
Part (b): Electric Field of an Infinite Uniformly Charged Cylinder
Next, examine an infinite cylinder coaxial with the z-axis, with radius \( h \), uniformly charged with volume charge density \( \rho \). Using a cylindrical Gaussian surface with radius \( r \) and length \( \ell \), coaxial with the z-axis, facilitates the application of Gauss’s Law by exploiting symmetry.
The principle of symmetry states that the electric field \( \mathbf{E} \) depends only on r and points radially outward, i.e., in the \( \hat{\mathbf{r}} \) direction.
Applying Gauss’s Law:
\[
\oint \mathbf{E} \cdot d\mathbf{A} = \frac{Q_{\text{enc}}}{\varepsilon_0}
\]
Inner surfaces are irrelevant since the field outside the cylinder vanishes at \( r > h \). Inside the cylinder, the enclosed charge is:
\[
Q_{\text{enc}} = \rho \times \text{volume of the inside cylinder} = \rho \times \pi r^2 \ell
\]
The flux through the cylindrical surface:
\[
\Phi = E(r) \times 2 \pi r \ell
\]
Substituting into Gauss's Law:
\[
E(r) \times 2 \pi r \ell = \frac{\rho \pi r^2 \ell}{\varepsilon_0}
\]
which yields:
\[
E(r) = \frac{\rho r}{2 \varepsilon_0}
\]
for \( r \leq h \). Outside the cylinder \( (r \geq h) \), the enclosed charge remains the same as that within radius h, so:
\[
E(r) = \frac{\rho h^2}{2 \varepsilon_0 r}
\]
Graphically, \( E(r) \) increases linearly within the cylinder radius, reaches maximum at \( r = h \), and then decreases proportionally to \( 1/r \) beyond that radius.
Expressed using the unit vector \( \hat{\mathbf{r}} = \frac{\mathbf{r}}{r} \):
\[
\mathbf{E}(r) = \frac{\rho r}{2 \varepsilon_0} \hat{\mathbf{r}}
\]
or equivalently, knowing \( \mathbf{r} = x \hat{\imath} + y \hat{\jmath} \), the vector form:
\[
\mathbf{E}(x,y,z) = \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} r \hat{\mathbf{r}} = \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} (x \hat{\imath} + y \hat{\jmath})
\]
for \( r \leq h \). For \( r \geq h \), the magnitude adjusts proportionally to \( 1/r \) but still points radially outward.
---
Part (c): Electric Field in the Presence of a Drilled Cylindrical Hole in a Charged Plate
Finally, consider the original scenario—a charged infinite plate with charge density \( \rho \)—but with an infinitely long cylindrical hole of radius \( h \) drilled through it, coaxial with the z-axis. The hole’s axis runs parallel to the plane of the plate. The total system can be considered as the superposition of two charge distributions:
1. The entire plate with uniform volume charge density \( \rho \).
2. A cylindrical region of negative charge density (or equivalent to subtracting the charge in the hole).
Using the principle of superposition, the total electric field at any arbitrary point results from the sum of the fields produced by the uniformly charged plate and the cylindrical hole.
The field produced by the unmodified infinite charged plate, as determined in part (a), is a uniform field normal to the surface with magnitude:
\[
\mathbf{E}_{\text{plate}}(y) = \frac{\rho h}{\varepsilon_0} \hat{\jmath}
\]
but confined strictly within the volume.
The cylindrical hole acts like a negative charge distribution, equivalent to removing charge in that region, and produces a field as if a cylinder of negative volume charge density \( -\rho \) exists.
From part (b), the field due to a cylindrical volume charge distribution (or hole) at a point outside or inside it is radially symmetric and proportional to the position vector, considering the symmetry. Specifically, the field due to the hole at an arbitrary point \( (x, y, z) \) is:
\[
\mathbf{E}_{\text{hole}}(\mathbf{r}) = - \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} \mathbf{r}
\]
where \( \mathbf{r} \) is the vector from the cylinder axis to the point of interest.
Adding these two fields:
\[
\mathbf{E}_{\text{total}}(\mathbf{r}) = \mathbf{E}_{\text{plate}} + \mathbf{E}_{\text{hole}}
\]
This superposition yields the total electric field at any point. Along the y-axis, the field simplifies since the symmetry reduces it to a one-dimensional problem, and:
\[
E_y(y) = \frac{\rho h}{\varepsilon_0} - \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} y
\]
The first term is the uniform field from the plate, the second subtracts the field due to the cavity (hole), which repels field lines outward, creating a field that cancels part of the plate’s field within the cavity. The final formula for the electric field at an arbitrary point (x, y, z) combines these effects:
\[
\mathbf{E}(x,y,z) = \left( \frac{\rho h}{\varepsilon_0} - \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} y \right) \hat{\jmath} - \frac{\rho}{2 \varepsilon_0} (x \hat{\imath} + z \hat{k})
\]
assuming the cylindrical symmetry and linear superposition.
In summary, by combining the solutions—first the uniform field from the charged plate and second the field of the cylindrical hole as derived in part (b)—we acquire the total electric field at any point in space. This demonstrates the power of superposition in electrostatics, simplifying the solution of complex configurations by building from simpler, well-understood systems.
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