Unit 1 ELECTROSTATICS:

1.1 Introduction:
All forces except gravity are caused due to electromagnetic forces of attraction
between the atoms.
Some examples:
i. When an object is pushed, the atoms in our hand interact
electromagnetically with the atoms of the object.
ii. Normal force acts in the opposite direction of gravitational force.
iii. Static friction occurs due to electromagnetic interaction between the
atoms present in the object and the atoms on the surface and so is kinetic
friction.
The basics of ELECTROMAGNETISM are dealt with in this volume 1.

1.1.1 Historical background of electric charges:

Two thousand Years ago, the Greeks discovered that when rubbing amber
with animal fur, it attracts small pieces of leaves. They thought it was only
for amber, but later people realised that even glass rod when rubbed with
a silk cloth, attracts small pieces of paper.
This is due to the charging of the amber and the glass rod.

Animal fur transfers electrons from itself to the amber and thus the amber
becomes negatively charged.
Silk cloth gets electrons transferred to it through the glass rod and thus
the glass rod becomes positively charged.

But the pieces of leaves and the paper pieces are electrically neutral. They
get attracted and stick to the charged objects due to electrical induction.

When bringing a rubber rod close to a glass rod, they attract each other,
but when bringing either a rubber rod to another rubber rod, or a glass rod
to another glass rod, they repel each other.
This implies that the charges in the rubber rod and the glass rod are not
the same.
(Rubber rod is negatively charged and the glass rod is positively charged.)

Like charges repel and unlike charges attract.

Charging through rubbing is known as triboelectric charging.

1.1.2 Basic properties of charges:

i) Electric charge:
All objects in the universe, is made up of atoms… Just like mass, the
electric charge is also an intrinsic and fundamental property of
particles. SI unit of charge is Coulomb.
ii) Conservation of charges:
Benjamin Franklin told that when one object is rubbed with another,
charges get transferred, all particles in nature are electrically
neutral at first. And that they only transfer their charges from and
to other particles.
 Therefore, Charges cannot be created or destroyed, they can be
only transferred from one object to another. (Glass Rod Example 
Glass rod +ve, silk rod –ve)
In other words, the total electric charge in the universe is
constant and charges cannot be created nor destroyed, they
can be only transferred from one object to another.
iii) Quantisation of charges:
Fundamental unit of charge is e, and its value is 1.6 x 10 -19 C
Charge of electron is –e and Charge of proton is +e.
All charges which are microscopic in nature, are integral multiples
of the fundamental unit charge. This is very vital in the microscopic
level.
q=ne
where, n is any integer.
The charge quantisation is not appreciable at the macroscopic level.
So, the charges are taken to be continuous, and not discrete.
1.2: Coulomb’s Law:
Coulomb, a scientist, formulated the coulomb’s law by analysing two
charged spheres in a torsion balance whose inter-distance was far greater
than their radii.
Coulomb’s law states that, for two-point charges q 1 and q2 in vacuum or
free space, separated by a distance of r, the force on the charge q 2 due to
the charge q1 is equal to:

where r12 is the distance from the charge q1 to the charge q2

Important aspects of coulomb’s law:
I) The coulomb’s law in words.
II) About the direction of the force (Along the line connecting the two
charges and the direction (from q1 to q2 and vice versa))

III) About which is equal to and

IV) About when the charges are one coulomb and the distance between

the two charges is also one meter. This charge is

massive, so we would not have 1 coulomb as charge and normally
have nano coulombs or micro coulombs.
V) About the dependence of coulomb force on medium and the change
in the permittivity.
In a medium with permittivity, epsilon,

The relative permittivity is defined as:

 VI) Similarity between coulomb force and gravitational force, how the
coulomb force is directly proportional to the point charges and how
the gravitational force is directly proportional to the masses.
i) One key difference is that Fg can be only attractive while Fe
can be both attractive and repulsive.
ii) The value of gravitational constant

And the k in coulomb law is

Since k is so much greater than G, the magnitude of the
electrostatic force, will always be far greater than the
gravitational force for smaller size objects.
iii) The electrostatic force depends on medium while the
gravitational force does not have anything to do with
mediums.
VII) The electrostatic force always obeys the Newton’s third law.

VIII) This expression is only true for point charges.

Example: 1.4:
Inference/Note: When Fe is the electrostatic force between an
electron and a proton, and Fg is the gravitational force between the

electron and the proton,

1.2.1: Superposition principle:

Just add all the individual forces on a particular charge bro.

1.3: Electric Field:
This concept of electric field was introduced by Michael Faraday. Electric
Field is the area around a charged body in which its influence is observed,
or in which it exerts a force on another body.
Both electric and gravitational forces are non-contact forces, so they need
an explanation as to how they exert forces on far away objects.
According to Michael Faraday, every charge creates an electric field in the
surrounding space and if another charge is brought into the surrounding
space, it experiences a force.
The electric field at a point P which is at a distance r from a unit positive
point charge is defined as the electric force experienced by a unit positive
point charge q0 placed at that point.
 Important aspects of electric field:
I) Direction:
Electric field depends on the quantity of the charge.
If charge is positive, field acts away from the point and
If charge is negative, field acts towards the point.
This is due to the unit charge at point P being a positive
one.
II) Force in terms of field:

III) The above relation is only for point charges.

IV) Distance Dependence:
Larger the distance of point P from the charge, Smaller the
magnitude of electric field, due to the inverse square law.
V) Taking test charge as small, so it doesn’t mess with the electric field
of the main charge q.
VI) Uniform and non-uniform fields:
i) Uniform fields:
These field lines are uniform in direction and magnitude and do not
depend on distance. They are also along the same direction.
ii) Non-Uniform fields:
A field is said to be non-uniform if at least one of the quantities,
magnitude or direction is different.
i.e., They either depend on distance, or have the same magnitude
and differ directionally.

1.3.2: Electric Field due to a system of point charges:

Superposition principle is used.

Direction is found out using vector addition (Triangle law or parallelogram

law)
1.3.3:Electric field due to a continuous charge distribution:
All the things we discussed up till now is just for point charges. But for
continuous charge distribution (macroscopic bodies), we must use
calculus.
1.3.4:Electric field lines:
 I) Direction Drama of Field lines:
Electric field lines basically start from a positive charge and end at a
negative charge.
They are radially outwards from a positive charge and radially inwards
to a negative charge.
 For an isolated positive charge, the electric field lines start from the
charge and end at infinity.
 For an isolated negative charge, the electric field lines start from
infinity and end at the negative charge.
II) Field at point P:
The electric field at a point P is at a direction tangential to the field line
at that particular point.
III) Distance effect on field lines:
The electric field lines are denser, closer to the charge.
IV) No intersection of field lines:
No two electric field lines intersect. If they do then at that point, the
field is in two different directions simultaneously, meaning the test
charge at that point must move at two different directions at the same
time, which is physically impossible.
V) Number of field lines and magnitude of charges:
The number of field lines is directly proportional to the magnitude of
the charges.
1.4: Electric dipole and its properties
1.4.1:Electric dipole:
Two equal and opposite charges, separated by a small distance constitute
an electric dipole.
We take the charges to be on the x-axis for our convenience.
If the distance of charge +q from origin is a, and so is the distance from
origin to –q, then:

For a collection of point charges, in which r i is the distance from origin.

1.4.2:Electric field due to a dipole:

(2)
(1)

Important inferences:
i) Magnitude and direction variation for axial line and equatorial plane:
The magnitude of electric field at a point, on an axial line is twice of
that on the equatorial plane at the same distance.
The direction of electric field on the axial line is along the dipole
moment p, but the electric field on the equatorial plane is in the
opposite direction to the dipole moment p.
Even when the
ii) Variation with respect to distance for longer distances:
For smaller distances, the Electric field varies by 1/r 2 but for larger
distances, as seen from (1) and (2), the electric field varies by 1/r 3.
iii) When r>>a:
The (1) and (2) equations are only applicable for long distances (r>>a)
They are not applicable for smaller distances. But when the q is
nearing infinity and 2a is nearing zero, such that 2qa is finite, the two
equations are exact and hold true for any r.
1.4.3: Torque experienced by an electric dipole in the uniform electric field:

Consider an electric dipole of dipole moment p placed in a uniform electric field

E whose field lines are equally spaced and point in the same direction. Since the
external force is uniform the total force acting on the dipole is zero.

This relation holds true only when

electric dipole of moment p,
is
placed in a uniform electric field E
The magnitude of this torque is
maximum, when theta is 90
degrees. The
torque tends to rotate the dipole and
align it with the electric field E.
Once p is a aligned with E, the
total torque on the d dipole becomes
0 due to theta b becoming 0.
If the Field is not uniform, then
there will b an extra net force in
addition to the due todipole moment.
This increases the net
torque.

1.5: Electrostatic Potential and Kinetic Energy:

Introduction: In mechanics, potential energy is defined for conservative forces,
like gravitational force, and electrostatic forces.
1.5.1: Electrostatic Potential energy and Electrostatic potential:
Consider a positive charge q kept fixed at the origin which produces an electric
field E around it. A positive test charge q’ is brought from origin R to point P
against the repulsive force between the charges and this work done is stored as
potential energy of the system.
Note: Define new terms before using them. (like in this case, the UR and UP are the potential
energies at point P and R)

Important points:

I) The electric potential at point P depends only on the Electric Field E due to the source
charge q and not on the test charge q’.
Unit positive charge is brought from infinity to the point P with constant velocity
because external agency should not impart any kinetic energy to the test charge.
 II) The SI unit of Electric potential is Joule per coulomb, but more practically, it is Volt TM.

The description of motion of objects using the concept of potential or potential energy
is simpler than that using the concept of field, arguably.

1.5.2: Electric potential due to a point charge:

Important points:

i) If the source charge q is positive, V>0. If q is negative, then V is negative.

ii) The electric potential at a point P due to a collection of charges is equal to the sum of
the individual charges’
potential.

iii) Potential due to positive charge decreases as distance increases and potential due to
negative charge increases as distance increases. At infinity, electrostatic potential is
zero. Like  Normal, Unlike  Lower to higher Potential energy.
 1.5.3: Electrostatic potential at a point due to an electric dipole:

1.5.4 Equi-potential Surface:

An equipotential surface is a surface on which all the points are at the
same electric potential.
 Properties of equipotential surfaces:
i) The work done to move a charge between two equipotential points
A and B is literally zero, because W=q(V B – VA);
ii) The electric field is normal to an equipotential surface.

1.5.5: Relation between Electric field and potential:

To move a unit positive charge by a small distance dx towards q in

the electric field E, the work done is given by dW = −E dx. This is
because dW = - q E dx. And due to q being 1 it becomes dW=-Edx

The electric field is the negative gradient of the electric

potential

1.5.6 Electrostatic potential energy for collection of point charges:

Note that this stored potential energy U is equal to the total external work
done to assemble the three charges at the given locations.
This is derived using W=q2V, and then changing W into U
Here, q1, q2 and q3 are the charges.

TIP: Add the potentials at a point and when a new charge comes, multiply
the charge with the potential at the point, to give the work done to bring
that charge to that point.
1.5.7: Electrostatic Potential Energy of a dipole in uniform electric field:
1.6: Gauss Law:

1.6.1: Electric Flux:

The number of electric field lines crossing a given area kept

normal to the electric field lines is called electric flux.

Electric flux through an arbitrary area kept in a non uniform electric field
Suppose the electric field is not uniform and the area A is not flat surface (Figure 1.32). Then the
entire area can be divided into n small area segments and integrate them.

Electric field pattern on the surface area and orientation of the surface with respect to the electric
field.
1.6.2 Electric flux for closed surfaces

1.6.3 GAUSS LAW:

A positive point charge Q is surrounded by an imaginary sphere of

radius r as shown in Figure.
The electric field of the point charge is directed radially outward at
all points on the surface of the sphere.
Therefore, the direction of the area element dAis along the electric

field E and _=° 0.

 The remarkable point about this
result is that the equation is
equally true for any arbitrary
shaped surface which encloses
the charge Q

Gauss’s law states that if a charge Q is enclosed by an arbitrary

closed surface, then the total electric flux ΦE through the
closed surface is

Discussions of Gauss Law:

(i) The total electric flux through the closed surface depends only on
the charges enclosed by the surface

(ii) The total electric flux is independent of the location of the

charges inside the closed surface.

(iii) To arrive at the equation , we have chosen a spherical surface.

This imaginary surface is called a Gaussian surface. The shape of
the Gaussian surface to be chosen depends on the type of charge
configuration and the kind of symmetry existing in that charge
configuration.

(iv) In the LHS of equation (1.62), the electric field E is due to

charges present inside and outside the Gaussian surface but the
charge Qencl denotes the charges which lie only inside the Gaussian
surface.
1.6.4: Applications of Gauss law:

(i) Electric field due to an infinitely long charged wire

Points Before derivation:
I) First, Draw the diagram
II) Second, Consider all the quantities you are going to use
Two Small charge elements A1 and A2 on the wire which are at equal distances form
the point P The resultant field is radially away from the charged wire, the magnitude of
field is same at all points on the circle of radius r.
(ii) Electric field due to charged infinite plane sheet
Points before derivation:
I) Draw Diagram
II) Consider all the quantities to be used;
Consider an infinite plane sheet of charges with uniform surface charge density
σ (charge present per unit area). Let P be a point at a distance of r from the
sheet as shown in the Figure

(iii) Electric field due to two parallel charged infinite sheets

(iv) Electric field due to a uniformly charged spherical shell

1.7 ELECTROSTATICS OF CONDUCTORS AND DIELECTRICS

Electric conductor  Mobile charges

Metallic conductor  Free electrons not bound to any atom.

When there is no external field, the electrons are in continuous random motion in all directions. But
the net motion is zero as all motion gets cancelled out (equal and opposite). Therefore, the
conductor is in electrostatic equilibrium.

A conductor at electrostatic equilibrium has the following properties. ( (i) Field zero, ii) charge
zero,

iii) outside field -> perp to the surface of conductor, iv) P same outside and inside
conductor.)

(i) The electric field is zero everywhere inside the conductor. This is true regardless of
whether the conductor is solid or hollow.

When an electric field is applied, the free electrons accelerate to the left causing the left plate to
be negatively charged and the right plate to be positively charged.

Due to this realignment of free electrons, there will be an internal electric field created inside the
conductor which increases until it nullifies the external electric field. Once the external electric field
is nullified the conductor is said to be in electrostatic equilibrium.

(ii) There is no net charge inside the conductors. The charges must reside only on the
surface of the conductors.
From Gauss’s law, this implies that there is no net charge inside the conductor. If some charge is
introduced inside the conductor, it immediately reaches the surface of the conductor.

iii) The electric field outside the conductor is perpendicular to the surface of the
conductor and has a magnitude of σ/ɛ0 where σ is the surface charge density at that
point.

If there are two components of the field, one parallel and one perpendicular, then the
perpendicular one will only exist in electrostatic equilibrium. This is because of the fact that if
parallel component exists, then the conductor will experience acceleration.

(iv) The electrostatic potential has the same value on the surface and inside of the
conductor:

There is no parallel component on the surface of the conductor, so charges can be moved on the
surface without doing any work.

Field inside the conductor is zero, then potential is constant. As potential just inside the conductor
is zero, it cannot just jump in potential just after the point comes at the surface of the conductor.
So potential just inside the conductor is constant and the potential just outside the conductor (on
the surface) is also the same constant.

1.7.2 Electrostatic shielding

Using Gauss law, we can prove that the electric field inside the charged spherical shell is zero

An electrically sensitive instrument is kept inside the conductor, which is to be protected from
external electrical disturbance can be kept inside the cavity. This is called electrostatic shielding.

1.7.3 Electrostatic induction

As seen earlier, its ofc possible to transfer charges with physical contact. There is another way to
charge, and this way involves the transfer of charges without actual contact. This type of charging
is called electrostatic induction.

Consider an uncharged (neutral) conducting sphere at rest on an insulating stand. Suppose a

negatively charged rod is brought near the conductor without touching it. The negative charge of
the rod repels the elctrons in the conductor to the opposite side. As a result, positive charges are
induced near the region of the charged rod while negative charges on the farther side.
Once the charged rod is brought near the conductor, the distribution is no longer uniform with
more electrons located on the farther side of the rod and positive charges are located closer to the
rod.

But the total charge is zero.

Now the conducting sphere is connected to the ground through a conducting wire. This is called
grounding. Since the ground can always receive any amount of electrons, grounding removes the
electron from the conducting sphere.

(i) Now, positive charges will be attracted to the negative charges of the rod, and the
electrons are transferred to the ground.
(ii) Grounding wire is removed, the positive charges only will remain in the sphere, and
near the charged rod.
(iii) Now, the charged rod is removed from near the sphere. This causes the positive
charges to distribute uniformly on the conductor surface.
(iv) From this process, neutral conducting sphere becomes positively charged.
(v) For an arbitrary shaped conductor, the intermediate steps and conclusion are the same
except the final step. The distribution of positive charges is not uniform for arbitrarily-
shaped conductors.

Example 1.19:

Direct formulae, but just replace g with g + qE

1.7.4 Dielectrics or insulators:

A dielectric is a non-conducting material and has no free electrons.

Electrons  bound within the atoms

When field is applied, the electrons are not free to move anywhere but they are realigned in a
specific way. A dielectric is made up of either polar molecules or non-polar
molecules.

Non-polar molecules:

Centres of positive and negative charges coincide. No permanent dipole moment. When an
external electric field is applied, the centres of positive and negative charges are separated by a
small distance which induces dipole moment in the direction of the external electric field.

Polar molecules

In polar molecules, the centres of the positive and negative charges are separated even in the
absence of an external electric field.

When an external electric field is applied, the dipoles inside the material tend to align with the
electric field. Hence, there is an addition in the net dipole moment.

Polarisation

In the presence of an external electric field, the dipole moment is induced in the dielectric material.
Polarisation is defined as the total dipole moment per unit volume of the dielectric.

For most dielectrics, where, X e is a constant called the electric susceptibility

which is a characteristic of each dielectric.

1.7.5 Induced Electric field inside the dielectric

When an external field is applied to a conductor, the charges are aligned in way that the internal
and external fields cancel out. But in the case of a dielectric, which has no free electrons, the
external electric field, only realigns the charges so that an internal field is produced. The
magnitude of the internal electric field is smaller than the external electric field. Therefore, the net
electric field inside the dielectric, is not zero but is parallel to the external electric field but lesser in
magnitude.
 The uniform electric field between the plates acts as an
external electric field Eext which polarizes the dielectric
placed between plates. The positive charges are induced
on one side surface and negative charges are induced on
the other side of surface.

But inside the dielectric, the net charge is zero even in a

small volume. So the dielectric in the external field is
equivalent to two oppositely charged sheets with the
surface charge densities +σb and –σb. These charges are
called bound charges. They are not free to move like free
electrons in conductors.

1.8

CAPACITORS AND CAPACITANCE

1.8.1 Capacitors

Capacitor is a device used to store electric charge and electrical energy. It consists of two
conducting objects (usually plates or sheets) separated by some distance.

When a capacitor is connected to a battery of potential difference V, the eleectrons are transferred
from one plate to the other by battery, so that one plate becomes positively charged and the other
becomes negatively charged (+Q and -Q) The potential difference between the plates is equivalent
to the battery’s terminal voltage.

where the C is the proportionality constant called capacitance.

The capacitance C of a capacitor is defined as the ratio of the magnitude of charge on

either of the conductor plates to the potential difference existing between them.
The SI unit of capacitance is coulomb per volt or farad F in honor of Michael Faraday

In practice, capacitors are available in the range of microfarad (1μF = 10 -6 F) to picofarad (1pF =
10-12F). The total charge stored in the capacitor is zero (Q – Q = 0).

When we say the capacitor stores charges, it means the amount of charge that can be stored in
any one of the plates.

Capacitance of a parallel plate capacitor [(III) Q 17]

Consider a capacitor with two parallel plates each of cross-sectional area A and separated by a
distance d. The electric field between two infinite parallel plates is uniform and is given by
where If the d2<<A, the above result can be used for even finite sized parallel plate
capacitor.

The electric field between plates: , Since the field is uniform,

(EA likes d)

Inferences:

Area increased, more charge per same voltage. If distance increased, more
potential difference between plates, same charge per more voltage.

If the distance d is reduced ,V decreases with E constant. Then because V is reduced, the battery
terminal voltage exceeds the voltage between the plates. Due to this more charges flow to the
capacitor to balance the voltages. Thus capacitance increases. But if the distance is increased the
amount of charges flowing decreases to make the two voltages equal as battery voltage is lower
than the capacitor voltage.

1.8.2 Energy stored in the capacitor: [(III) 18)]

Capacitor not only stores the charge but also it stores energy. When a battery is connected to the
capacitor, electrons of total charge –Q are transferred from one plate to the other plate. To transfer
the charge, work is done by the battery. This work is stored as electrostatic potential energy in the
capacitor. To transfer an infinitesimal charge dQ for a potential difference V, the work done is given
by: where

This work is stored as U E

Here, Q = CV; This can be rewritten

using

And if U E /V is uE:

1.8.3 Applications of capacitors

Capacitors are used in various electronics circuits. A few of the applications.

a) In cameras as flashes, b) In heart defibrillator, c) In automobile engines, d) In power supplies

(a) Flash capacitors are used in digital cameras for taking photographs.

(b) During cardiac arrest, a device called heart defibrillator is used to give a sudden surge of a
large amount of electrical energy to the patient’s chest to retrieve the normal heart function.

(c) Capacitors are used in the ignition system of automobile engines to

eliminate sparking

(d) Capacitors are used to reduce power fluctuations in power supplies and to
increase the efficiency of power transmission.

However, capacitors have disadvantage as well. Even after the battery or power supply is removed,
the capacitor stores charges and energy for some time.

For example if the TV is switched off, it is always advisable to not touch the back side of the TV
panel.

1.8.4 Effect of dielectrics in capacitors

Earlier, we assumed that the space between parallel plates was empty or filled with air, but now we
consider a dielectric like mica glass paper etc. in between the plates. If so, then the capacitance is
altered.

There are two cases

Case (i): When the battery is disconnected from the capacitor: (Some extra bs: E = E0/er, Ea likes
d intof

Consider a capacitor with two parallel plates each of cross-sectional area A and are separated by a
distance d.

The capacitor is charged by a battery of voltage V 0 and the charge stored is Q0. The capacitance of
the capacitor without the dielectric is

The battery is then disconnected from the capacitor and the dielectric is inserted between the
plates.

The introduction of dielectric between the plates will decrease the electric field.

Experimentally it is found that the modified electric field is given by:

 where, or Er = E/Eo

Here, we can see that when battery is removed, the potential difference decreases,

As we know, the capacitance is inversely proportional to the potential difference of the capacitors.

Since er > 1, we have C > Co. Thus insertion of the dielectric increases the capacitance.

Energy stored in the capacitor before the insertion of a dielectric is given by:

After the dielectric is inserted, the charge Q0 remains constant but the capacitance is increased. As
a result, the stored energy is decreased.

There is a decrease in energy because, when the dielectric is inserted,

the capacitor pends some energy in pulling the dielectric inside

(ii) When the battery remains connected to the capacitor: (Some extra bs Ea likes d for
both C0 and C, energy density)

Then, when the battery was disconnected from the capacitor, we took the voltage to be
decreasing.

Here, The potential difference V0 across the plates remains constant. But it is found experimentally
(first shown by Faraday) that when dielectric is inserted, the charge stored in the capacitor is
increased by a factor er.

Due to this increased charge, the capacitance is also increased. The new capacitance is

(mf increases due to decrease in v in the first one and increase in Q the second )

However the reason for the increase in capacitance in this case when the battery remains
connected is different from the case when the battery is disconnected before introducing the
dielectric.
The energy stored in the capacitor before the insertion of a dielectric is given by

Energy density:

When not connected:

1.8.5 Capacitor in series and parallel (Different capacitances, different voltages)

(i) Capacitor in series

Consider three capacitors of capacitance C1, C2 and C3 connected in series with a battery of
voltage V as shown in the (a).

As soon as the battery is connected to the capacitors in series, -Q charge gets transferred in the
shown order. By these processes, each capacitor stores the same amount of charge Q.

The capacitances of the capacitors are in general different, so that the voltage across each
capacitor is also different and are denoted as V1, V2 and V3 respectively.

The sum of the voltages across the capacitor must be equal to the voltage of the battery.

If three capacitors in series are considered to form an equivalent single capacitor Cs shown in
Figure (b) we have:

Thus, the inverse of the equivalent capacitance CS of three capacitors connected in

series is equal to the sum of the inverses of each capacitance. This equivalent
capacitance CS is always less than the smallest individual capacitance in the series.

(ii) Capacitance in parallel: (Law of conservation of charges)

Consider three capacitors of capacitance C1, C2 and C3 connected in parallel with a battery of
voltage V as shown in Figure 2 (a).

Since corresponding sides of the capacitors are connected to the same positive and
negative terminals of the battery, the voltage across each capacitor is equal to the battery’s
voltage.
Since capacitances of the capacitors are different, the charge stored in each capacitor is not the
same. Let the charge stored in the three capacitors be Q1, Q2, and Q3 respectively. According to
the law of conservation of total charge, the sum of these three charges is equal to the charge
Q transferred by the battery,

If these three capacitors are considered to form a single equivalent capacitance CP which stores
the total charge Q as shown in the Figure 1.59(b), then we can write Q = CPV. Substituting this in
equation (1.107), we get

Thus, the equivalent capacitance of capacitors connected in parallel is equal to the sum of the
individual capacitances. The equivalent capacitance CP in a parallel connection is always greater
than the largest individual capacitance. In a parallel connection, it is equivalent as area of each
capacitance adds to give more effective area such that total capacitance increases.
1.9

DISTRIBUTION OF CHARGES IN A CONDUCTOR AND ACTION AT POINTS

1.9.1 Distribution of charges in a conductor

Consider two conducting spheres A and B of radii r1 and r2 respectively connected to each other
by a thin conducting wire as shown in the Figure, here, the distance between the spheres is much
greater than the radii of either spheres. If a charge Q is introduced into any one of the spheres,
this charge Q is redistributed into both the spheres such that the electrostatic potential is same in
both the spheres. They attain electrostatic equilibrium.

The surface of the conductor is an equipotential, since the spheres are connected by the
conducting wire.

Thus the surface charge density σ is inversely proportional to the radius of the sphere. For a
smaller radius, the charge density will be larger and vice versa.

1.9.2 Action of points or Corona discharge:

We know that smaller the radius of curvature, the larger is the charge density

As a result, the electric field near this edge is very high and it ionizes the surrounding air. The
positive ions are repelled at the sharp edge and negative ions are attracted towards the sharper
edge. This reduces the total charge of the conductor near the sharp edge. This is called action of
points or corona discharge.

1.9.3 Lightning arrester or lightning conductor:

This is a device used to protect tall buildings from lightning strikes. It works on the principle of
action at points or corona discharge.

Negative charges in cloud, induce the positive charges in the tip of the lightning rod. Then, the
positive charges on the tip of the lightning rod, ionizes the surrounding air, and thus neutralises the
negative charge. The negative charge is pushed into the spikes and sent to the ground.

1.9.4 Van de Graaff Generator:

In the year 1929, Robert Van de Graaff designed a machine which produces a large amount of
electrostatic potential difference, up to several million volts (107 V). This Van de Graff generator
works on the principle of electrostatic induction and action at points.

A large hollow spherical conductor is fixed on the insulating stand as shown in Figure 1.63. A pulley
B is mounted at the centre of the hollow sphere and another pulley C is fixed at the bottom. A belt
made up of insulating materials like silk or rubber runs over both pulleys. The pulley C is driven
continuously by the electric motor. Two comb shaped metallic conductors E and D are fixed near
the pulleys.

The comb D is maintained at a positive potential of 104 V by a power supply. The upper comb E is
connected to the inner side of the hollow metal sphere.
The comb ionizes the air, pulling all the nearby electrons, and allowing the insulator belt collect all
the positive charges. Then the belt moves up carrying the positive charges. Once it is near the
comb E, it induces negative charges on the comb due to corona discharge. As a result, the positive
charges are pushed away from the inner surface of the sphere and comb E to the outer surface of
the sphere. Since the sphere is a conductor, the charges are uniformally distributed throughout the
outer surface of the hollow sphere.

At the same time, the negative charges nullify the positive charges in the belt due to corona
discharge before it passes over the pulley.

When the belt descends, it has almost no net charge. At the bottom, it again gains a large positive
charge. The belt goes up and delivers the positive charges to the outer surface of the sphere. This
process continues until the outer surface produces the potential difference of the order of 107
which is the limiting value due to the leakage of extra charge to the surroundings due to the
ionization of air.

The high voltage produced in this Van de Graaff generator is used to accelerate positive ions
(protons and deuterons) for nuclear disintegrations and other applications.
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