Quiz 2

Is Friday, Sept. 30, 4:30-5:45, CW101,102,103.

Covers material through next Wednesday: electric field,
voltage, and capacitance calculations using
superposition methods and Gausss Law.
A review will be given Wednesday evening, Sept. 28, at
7:30PM in CW102.
Reminder: ~half the quiz will be problem solving
worked out an test sheets and ~half conceptual
answered on scantron cards.

What stays constant?

Which quantity or quantities take on the same value on
all points of a good conductor?
A. Surface charge density.
B. Normal component of electric field.
C. Voltage.
D. A and B.
E. B and C.

I equipotentials

The figure below shows equipotentail surfaces in a

cross section of the human heart. Pick the point where
E is highest.
B
A.
B.
C.
C
D.
A
D

I still equipotentials

A.
B.
C.
D.

Suppose the equipotentials near the letter D are

separated by 5 mV in value and are 10 cm apart. What
is the magnitude of E near the point D.
B
0.5 mV/cm.
2.0 mV/cm.
5.0 mV/cm.
C
10 mV/cm.
A
D

Living Cell Batteries

Many important biological functions are driven by a
voltage difference created across cell membranes by the
different concentrations of two metals inside and outside
the cell. What are these two metals?
A. Copper,zinc.
B. Zinc, potassium.
C. Sodium, potassium.
D. Iron, sodium.

Applying superposition directly to V

Since any collection of electric charge is ultimately a
collection of point charges, and we know the formula for
V for a point charge (taking V=0 at r), it follows from
superposition that

V (r )
n

qn

4 0 | r rn |

This is quite a useful way to get at either V and E!

Getting E from V
Since DV=-Edr, it seems reasonable that if we could
invert the integral, we could get E from DV.
If the path of integration is along, say the x-axis, this is very
simple: DV=-Ex(r)dx Ex(r)=-dV(r)/dx.
The full result just has to allow for the possibility of any
path in space. We need the 3D derivative, which is known
as the gradient:

V (r ) V (r ) V (r )
E (r ) V (r )
i
j
k
x
y
z

This looks bad; but looks can be deceiving. This is the

route to the calculation of real E-fields.

An isolated charged copper sphere

If Q is the charge on the sphere and R is its radius, then
Gausss Law tells us that E=kQ/r2 outside the sphere
and E=0 inside the sphere.
From the outside, the sphere might as well be a point
charge, so the voltage will be V(r)=kQ/r.
At the surface of the sphere, V(r=R)=kQ/R. Note that
QV(R): Q=40RV(R).
Since E=0 inside the sphere, V(r<R)=V(R).

Summary of V and E calculations

When E is easy Gausss Law situations find E first,
and then V from E.
For other cases involving direct integration, get V first
and then E from V.

Field and charge density near a point

ER
R

Er
r

Suppose two spheres of different radii are connected by a wire,

putting them at the same V. The spheres share a charge Q=QR+Qr.
If the wire is long, then we can use the spherically symmetric results
for V on a sphere. It follows that QR/R=Qr/r and Qr/QR=R/r.
The electric field ratio is ER/Er=r/R, and the surface charge desnity
ratio is sR/sr=r/R.
The big sphere carries more charge, but E and s are bigger on the
smaller sphere.
In the limiting case, a small sphere becomes a point. Pointed ends
of conductors develop large E and s.

Two parallel plates

An interesting observation. If the plates are large, they
will acquire equal and opposite charge densities.

-s

E=s/0
+s

Parallel Plates
The potential difference between the two plates is then
V+-V- = Ed=sd/0, where d is the plate separation. If we
ground the negative plate, we can write this as V=sd/0.
If A is the area of the plates, we can identify the total
charge on the positive surface as Q=sA=(0A/d)V, and
once more the charge on the plate is proportional to the
voltage.
The statement QV, or Q=CV, with C a constant that
depends only on geometry is true for any configuration of
conductors. C tells us how much charge a given
conductor can hold at a given voltage; i.e., the capacity,
or in modern terms, the capacitance of the conductor.

More Parallel Plates

Lets look at the parallel plate geometry connected to the
electroscope. Well charge one side of the parallel plate.
How is the charge shared?
First, it simply splits up: Q=QP+QE.
But, since the plates are connected with a wire: VP=VE.
Using the relationship we have observed, Q=CV, we can
converts the second condition to QP/CP-QE/CE=0.
Two equations, two unknowns yields QP=CPQ/(CP+CE),
QE=CEQ/(CP+CE), and V=Q/(CP+CE).
We can test this by varying the plate separation d. As d
goes up, CP goes down, so QE should go up.
You will do this yourself in studio.