Static Electric Fields

Static electric fields are caused by stationary electric

charges.
Electrostatics is the study of the effects of electric
charges at rest, and the electric fields do not change
with time.
For the study of static electric fields in free space, we
firstly define an electric field intensity vector E
Specify two things which describe the field
completely, i.e whether the field is solenoidal or not
solenoidal OR if the field is rotational or irrotational.
Helmholtz's Theorem which says that any vector field
is completely defined if you can specify these two
properties of the vector field

Electric Field Intensity, E

Electric Field Intensity, E, is defined as the force per
unit charge that a very small stationary test charge
experiences when it is placed in a region where an
electric field exists. That is
E = lim F/q

(V/m)

q0

The electric field intensity, E is then proportional to

and in the direction of the force, F.
The electric intensity vector, E, is a force field
measured in V/m.

An inverse relation gives the force F on a stationary

charge q in an electric field E
F = qE

(N)

Two Fundamental Postulates of Electrostatic In

Free Space
The first postulate states that

.E
differential form

By invoking the Divergence Theorem, we obtain

1
V .E dv V dv
0

E .ds
S

where Q is the total charge contained in volume V

bounded by surface S. o is the permittivity of free
space. o has a value of 8.854 x 10-12 F/m.

Static electric fields are NOT solenoidal unless Q is

zero. This equation is a form of Gausss Law- one of
the most important relations in electrostatics.
The second postulate states that
XE=0
By invoking the Stoke's Theorem,
E .dl 0
C

The circulation of the static electric field intensity is

zero.
The scalar product E.dl integrated over any path is
the voltage along that path.
This equation is an expression of Kirchhoffs Voltage
Law in circuit theory that the algebraic sum of the
voltage drops around any closed circuit is zero.
This irrotational property of static electric field that
the line integral of a static electric field depends only
on the end points.

The line integral of E from point P1 to point P2

represents the work done by E in moving a unit
charge from P1 to P2.
The work done in moving a unit charge around a
closed path in an electrostatic field is zero. This field
which has this special property is a conservative
field.
Irrotational field (field which has no curl) is a
conservative field
Coulombs Law
This Law is useful to calculate the electric field
intensity E due to a charge q.
Using the first fundamental postulate, we have
E.ds (a E ).a ds
S

Therefore,
E .ds E (4R 2 )
R

Ea E a
R

q
o

q
R

4 o R 2

V /m
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Electric field intensity E of a positive point charge is

in the outward radial direction and has a
magnitude proportional to the charge and
inversely proportional to the square of the
distance from the charge.
When the charge q is not located at the origin, and let
the position vector of q be R and that of a field point
P be R,
Then
E a
p
qP

q
4 o R R '

Where aqP is the unit vector drawn from q to P.

Since
a

qP

R R'
,
R R'

We have
Ep

q (R R ' )
4 o R R '

Force F12 is experienced by q2 due to electric field

intensity E12 of q1 at q2

F12 q E
2

12

q q
1 2
a
2
R 4
R
o 12

Coulombs Law :
The force between two point charges is proportional
to the product of the charges and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance of
separation.
F12 is a force of repulsion when q1 and q2 are both
positive or both negative
Electric Field Due To A System of Discrete
Charges
Principle of superposition applies
Total E field at a point is the vector sum of the fields
caused by all the individual charges. Positions of the
charges q1, q2, q3, qn, (source points ) be denoted by
position vectors R1, R2, R3, R4, .. Rn,
The position of the field point at which the electric
field intensity is to be calculated is denoted by R

1
1 q1 (R R 1' ) q2 (R R '2 ) q3 (R R '3 )

E
E

...
3
3
3

4 0
4 0 R R '

R R2'
R R3'
1

k 1

qk (R R k' )
R Rk'

Electric Field Due To A Continuous Distribution

of Charges
The electric field caused by a continuous distribution
of charge can be obtained by integrating
(superposing) the contribution of an element of
charge over the charge distribution.
Volume charge distribution

Volume charge density v (C/m3) is a function of the

coordinates.
Differential element of charge behaves like a point
charge, charge vdv contributes dE to at the field
point P is
v dv '
dE a R
4 R 2
0

We have
E

v '
1
a
V ' R 2 dv
4 0
R

Surface charge distribution

If the charge is distributed on a surface with a surface
charge density S (C/m2) we write
E

S '
1
a
S ' R 2 dS
4 0
R

Line charge distribution

For a line charge we have

1
'
l
E
L' a R 2 dl V/m
4 0
R

Where l (C/m) is the line charge density and L the

line (not necessarily straight) along which the charge
is distributed.

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