1

ASSIGNMENT #2
Maxwells Equations and Boundary Conditions

1. [40 points] Answer the questions from L02 Maxwells Equations and Boundary Conditions:
- slide 4 [4 points]
- slide 6 (all 3 questions) [6 points]
- slide 8 [5 points]
- slide 14 [2 points]
- slide 15 [5 points]
- slide 18 [4 points]
- slide 24 [3 points]
- slide 25 (both questions) [8 points]
- slide 26 [3 points]

2. [35 points] The parallel-plate transmission line shown in the figure has dimensions 4 b = cm
and 8 d = mm. The medium between the plates is characterized by 1
r
= , 10
r
c = , 0
d
o = S/m.
Neglect fringing and the field outside the dielectric. Given the waves magnetic field,

9
( , ) 5cos(10 ) z t t z | = H y (A/m)
find:
(a) the surface current density J
s
(z,t) at the lower plate (the plate at x = 0) and the total current I(z,t)
flowing along this plate;
(b) the surface current density J
s
(z,t) at the upper plate (the plate at x = d) and the total current I(z,t)
flowing along this plate;
(c) the electric field ( , ) z t E and the value of ;
(d) the displacement current density ( , )
D
z t
t
c
=
c
D
J ;
(e) the voltage between the two plates ( , ) V z t ;
(f) the impedance of the line
0
/
m m
Z V I = where
m
V and
m
I are the magnitudes of the line voltage
and current, respectively.
b
d
0
x
y
z
, ,
r r
c o


3. [25 points] Consider ionized gas (plasma) with N = 10
18
free electrons per unit volume.
Neglecting loss, the equation of motion of the electron in a sinusoidal E-field is j m e e = v E, where v
is the electron velocity,
19
1.6 10 e

~ C is the electron charge magnitude, and
31
9.12 10 m

~ kg is
the electron mass. The induced current density is Ne = = J v v . Using Maxwells equations in
vacuum and taking the induced current density J into account, show that the effective dielectric
constant
r
c (relative permittivity) of the plasma medium is
d
o
2


2
2
2
0
1 , where
p
r p
Ne
m
e
c e
e c
| |
= =
|
\ .
.
[Note:
p
e is the so-called plasma frequency.]
At what frequency (in hertz) is the effective permittivity of plasma zero?