ELECTROSTATIC POTENTIAL AND CAPACITANCE
Potential energy of a charge q any point (in the presecene of field due to any charge configuration) is
the work done by the external force (equal and opposite to the electric force) in bringing the charge
q from infinity to that point
Work done by an external force in bringing a unit positive charge from infinity to a point is
electrostatic potential at that point.
It is also defined as the work done by unit positive charge without acceleration from infinity to that
point.
Any arbitrary infinitesimal path can be resolved into two perpendicular displacements. One alone r
and another perpendicular to r the work done corresponding to the later will .be zero.
Contrasting features of potential between dipole and an arbitrary charge:
1. Th potential due to charge q does not only depend of charge but also the angle between the
dipole moment p and the distance between the position vector r. (it is however symmetrical
about p, keeping theta fixed the points corresponding to p on the cone so generated will
have the same potential)
2. the electric potential will drop of at large distances due to its proportionality to 1/r^2 quickly
compared to the single charge which is dependant to 1/r.
FOR any charge configuration equipotential surface is perpendicular to the electric field at that
point.
If the equipotential surface was not perpendicular to the electric field then there would be a non
zero component along the surface. To move the test charge along the direction of the field some
work has to be done against the field. This is in contraiction to the definition of equipotential
surface . there is no potential difference between two points in a equipotential surface so no
work is required to move the electric charge.
RELATION BETWEEN ELECTRIC POTENTENTIAL AND ELECTRIC FIELD
1. electric field is in the direction in which potential decreases the steepest.
2. Its magnitude is given by the change in potentical per unit displacement normal to the
equipotential surface at the point.
1Ge V = 10^9 V ; 1 Te V = 10^12 V
IN a uniform electric field the dipole experiences no net force but experiences torque given by
pxE. We generally take potential to be zero when theta=pi/2 because the work done again the
external field E in bringing +ve and -ve q are equal and opposite and cancel out.
ELECTROSTATICS OF CONDUCTORS;
1. Inside a conductor electrostatic field is zero: A conductor has free electrons. As long as the
electric field is not zero the free charge carriers would experience force and drift. In the
static situation the free charges have so distributed themselves that the electric field is zero
everywhere inside.
2. There is no excess charge on the interior of static situation conductor: gauss law, unit
volume, net charge is equal to zero.
3. Electric field is zero inside a cavity (ELECTROSTATIC SHIELDING): there might be
accumulation of charge on surface of cavity but inside cavity charge is always zero and
electric field also remains zero
4. At the surface of static conductor electrif field is always normal: if it was not zero, every pont
will not cancel and will have some non zero quantity. Then the free charges would
experience force and move
5. Electrostatic potential is constant thoughout the volume of the conductor and has the same
value as inside its surface :
6. E,ectric field at the surface of a charged conductor
7. By gauss law:
2.10 PAGE 65 dielectrics and polarization
A capacitor is a system of two conductors separated by an insulator
The electric field in the region between the conductors is proportional to the charge of Q
High potential difference implies strong electric field around the conductors. A strong electric field
can ionize the surrounding air and accelerate the charges so produces due to the oppositely charged
plates therby neutralizing the charge on the capacitor plates. In other words, The charge of the
capacitor leaks away due to the reducing in insulating power of the intervening medium
The maximum electric field that a dielectric medium can withstand without break down (of its
insulating property) is called its dielectric strength. For air it is about 3 x 10^6
The field lines beind outward at the edges- an effect called ‘fringing of field’.
Epsilon = epsilon not x K ====== permittivity of the medium (k=dielectric constant)
CURRENT ELECTRICITY
Let delta q be the net charge flowing across cross section of a conductor during time
interval delta t (that is time between t and t+delta t). then the current at time t across the
cross section of the conductor is defined as the calue of the ration of delta q by delta t in the
limit of delta t tending to 0
In nature free charged particles do exitst like in upper strata of atmosphere called the
ionosphere.
Electrons move with an average velocity which is independat of time although electrons are
accelerated. This is the phenomenon of drift and velocity vd is called drift velocity. Because
of drift , there will be net transport of charges across any area perpendicular to E
The direction of drift of electrons is opposite to the direction of electric field that is they
move towards increasing potential.
LIMITATIONS OF OHM’S LAW:
V ceases to be proportional to I in good conductors
When V is reversed in a circuit without changing its magnitude the magnitude of I in
a diode
The relation between V and I is not unique ie there is more than one value of V for
the same current . a material exihibiting such behavior is Ga gas.
Metals have low resistivity in the range of 10^-8 to 10^-6 and on the other hand
insulators have resistivities approximately 10^18 times greater than the resistivity of
conductors
Dependance of resistivity over temperature
This is valid only for a small range of temperature
Alpha is the coefficient of resistivity and is positive for metals.
The equation supposes the graph to be a straight line but at temperature less
than 0 the graph slightly deviates
Some materials like nichrome magnanin and constantan exhibit very weak
dependence of resisitivity with temperature . thus they are used in wire bound
resistors as they do not or change very less with temperatures
At low temperature
Nichrome constantun
manganin
Semiconductors and its
dependancy
For semiconductors resistivity decreases with increasing temperatures this is
dure to the fact tht as temperature increases the number of electrons per unit
volume increases for a semiconductor and dominates the reducing value of drift
velocity therby decreasing the value of resistivity
On the other hand the decreasing value of drift velocity in conductors contribute
to the increasing value of resistivity in conductors.
ELECTRIC ENERGY AND POWER
If charges moved without collisions through the conductor, their kinetic energy would
also change so that the total energy is unchanged. Conservation of total energy would
then imply that,
When electrons freely move in a conductor due to electric field they accelerate but it is
found true that they move with almost constant drift velocity. This is because the
electrons have collisions with the atoms and energy gained by electrons and given to
atoms. These atoms gain energy and relaease them in the form of heat. So the energy
gained by atoms will result in greater vibration of atoms then
Kirchoffs rule
Junction rule: At any junction, the sum of the currents entering the junction is equal to
the sum of currents leaving the junction.
veral lines, we consider a point in a line. The proof of this rule follows from the fact that
when currents are steady, there is no accumulation of charges at any junction or at any
point in a line. Thus, the total current flowing in, (which is the rate at which charge flows
into the junction), must equal the total current flowing out.
Loop rule: The algebraic sum of changes in potential around any closed loop involving
resistors and cells in the loop is zero
, since electric potential is dependent on the location of the point. Thus starting with any
point if we come back to the same point, the total change must be zero. In a closed loop,
we do come back to the sta
SEMICONDUCTOR
ELECTRONICS
rting point and hence the rule.