Table of Contents

What Is Equipotential Surface?

Work Done in Equipotential Surface
Properties of Equipotential Surface
Solved Examples
Frequently Asked Questions on
Equipotential Surface

What Is Equipotential
Surface?
The surface, the locus of all points at the
same potential, is known as the equipotential
surface. No work is required to move a
charge from one point to another on the
equipotential surface. In other words, any
surface with the same electric potential at
every point is termed as an equipotential
surface.

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Equipotential Points: If the points in an

electric field are all at the same electric
potential, they are known as the
equipotential points. If these points are
connected by a line or a curve, it is known as
an equipotential line. If such points lie on a
surface, it is called an equipotential surface.
Further, if these points are distributed
throughout a space or a volume, it is known
as an equipotential volume.

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EQUIPOTENTIALSURFACE TheLeamingApp

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Work Done in Equipotential Surface

The work done in moving a charge between
two points in an equipotential surface is zero.
If a point charge is moved from point VA to
VB in an equipotential surface, then the work
done in moving the charge is given by

W = q0(VA –VB)

As VA – VB is equal to zero, the total work

done is W = 0.

Properties of Equipotential
Surface
1. The electric field is always perpendicular to an
equipotential surface.
2. Two equipotential surfaces can never
intersect.
3. For a point charge, the equipotential surfaces
are concentric spherical shells.
4. For a uniform electric field, the equipotential
surfaces are planes normal to the x-axis.
5. The direction of the equipotential surface is
from high potential to low potential.
6. Inside a hollow-charged spherical conductor,
the potential is constant. This can be treated
as equipotential volume. No work is required
to move a charge from the centre to the
surface.
7. For an isolated point charge, the equipotential
surface is a sphere, i.e. concentric spheres
around the point charge are different
equipotential surfaces.
8. In a uniform electric field, any plane normal to
the field direction is an equipotential surface.
9. The spacing between equipotential surfaces
enables us to identify regions of a strong and
weak field, i.e., E= −dV/dr E ∝ 1/dr.

Also Read
Electrostatics
Electric Charge
Gauss Law
Coulombs law
Electric Field Intensity
Electric Potential Energy
Motion of Charged Particle in Electric Field

Problems on Equipotential
Surface
Q.1: A charged particle (q =1.4 mC) moves a
distance of 0.4 m along an equipotential
surface of 10 V. Calculate the work done by
the field during this motion.

Solution:

The work done by the field is given by the

expression

W = -qΔV

Since ΔV = 0, for equipotential surfaces, the

work done is zero, W = 0.

Q.2: A positive particle of charge 1.0 C

accelerates in a uniform electric field of 100
V/m. The particle started from rest on an
equipotential plane of 50 V. After t = 0.0002
seconds, the particle is on an equipotential
plane of V = 10 volts. Determine the distance
travelled by the particle.

Solution:

The work done in moving a charge in an

equipotential surface is given by

W = -qΔV

Substituting the values, we get

W = (-1.0, C) (10V – 50V) = 40 J

We know that the work done in moving a

charge in an electric field:

W = qEd

40 = (1.0) (100)d

d = 0.4m

Q.3: An electron of mass (m) and charge (e)

is released from rest in a uniform electric
field of 106 newton/coulomb. Compute its
acceleration. Also, find the time taken by the
electron to attain a speed of 0.1 c, where c is
the velocity of light. (m = 9.1 × 10–31 kg, e = 1.6
× 10–19 coulomb and c = 3 ×108 metre/sec).

Sol.

The force experienced by the electron is

F = Ee = 106 (1.6 × 10–19)

= 1.6 × 10–13 newton

The acceleration of the electron is given by

\(\begin{array}{l}a = \frac{F}{m} =
\frac{1.6\times {{10}^{-13}}}{9.1\times
{{10}^{-31}}}\end{array} \)
= 1.8 × 1017 m/sec2

The initial velocity = zero.

Let t be the time taken by the electron to

attain a final speed of 0.1 c.

Now v = u + at or v = at

\(\begin{array}{l}\therefore t = \frac{v}{a} =
\frac{0.1\times c}{a} = \frac{0.1\times (3\times
{{10}^{8}})}{1.8\times {{10}^{17}}}\end{array} \)
= 1.7 × 1010 sec.

Q.4: A ball of mass m with a charge q can

rotate in a vertical plane at the end of a
string of length λ in a uniform electrostatic
field whose lines of force are directed
upwards. What horizontal velocity must be
imparted to the ball in the upper position so
that the tension in the string in the lower
position of the ball is 15 times the weight of
the ball?

Sol.

The situation is shown in the figure.

Here, the sum of kinetic energy and potential

energy at B is the same as the sum of kinetic
energy and potential energy at A, i.e.,

(K.E.)B + (P.E.)B = (K.E.)A + (P.E.)A ..(1)

Gain in K.E.

= (K.E.)A – (K.E.)B = (1/2) m (v22 – v12) …(2)

Loss in P.E. = (P.E.)B – (P.E.)A

= Loss in gravitational P.E. – gain in

electrostatic P.E.

= mg . 2λ – qE. 2λ

= (mg – qE) 2λ …(3)

From eq. (1),

(P.E.)B – (P.E.)A = (K.E.)A – (K.E.)B

Substituting the values, we get

(mg – qE) 2λ = 1/2 m (v22 – v12) …(4)

Centripetal force at A = T2 + qE – mg

\(\begin{array}{l}\therefore T_{2} + qE – mg =
\frac{m{{v}_{2}}^{2}}{λ }….(5)\end{array} \)
From eq. (4) mv22 = 2 (mg – qE) 2λ + mv12

From eq. (5) mv22 = λ (T2 + qE – mg)

∴ 2(mg – qE) 2λ – mv12 = λ (T2 + qE – mg)

or

\(\begin{array}{l}4mg – 4qE + \left( \frac{m}{λ }

\right)v_{1}^{2} = T_2 + qE – mg\end{array} \)
Putting T2 = 15 mg, we have

\(\begin{array}{l}4mg – 4qE +\left( \frac{m}{λ}

\right) v_{1}^{2} = 15 mg + qE – mg\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}\left( \frac{m}{λ}
\right)v_{1}^{2} = 10mg + 5qE = 5 (2mg +
qE)\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}v_1 = {{\left[ \frac{1}{m}.

(2mg+qE)\,\,.\,5 \right]}^{1/2}}\end{array} \)
Q.5: An infinite number of charges, each
equal to q, are placed along the x-axis at x =
1, x = 2, x = 4, x = 8 …… and so on. Find the
potential and the electric field at point x = 0
due to this set of charges.

Sol. As potential V and intensity E due to a

point charge at position x are respectively
given by,

\(\begin{array}{l}V = \frac{1}{4\pi {{\varepsilon

}_{0}}}\;\;\frac{q}{x}\; and \;E \;=\; \frac{1}{4\pi
{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\;\;\frac{q}
{{{x}^{2}}}\end{array} \)
And electric interaction is a two-body
interaction, i.e., the principle of superposition
holds good –

\(\begin{array}{l}V = \frac{1}{4\pi {{\varepsilon

}_{0}}}\;\;\left[ \frac{q}{1}+\frac{q}{2}+\frac{q}
{4}+\,\,… \right]\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}= \frac{q}{4\pi {{\varepsilon

}_{0}}}\;\;{{\left[ 1+\frac{1}{2}+\frac{1}
{4}+\frac{1}{8}…… \right]}^{*}}\end{array} \)
i.e.,

\(\begin{array}{l}V = \frac{q}{4\pi {{\varepsilon

}_{0}}}\times\frac{1}{[1-(1/2)]}= \frac{1}{4\pi
{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\end{array} \)
(2q)

\(\begin{array}{l}E = \frac{1}{4\pi {{\varepsilon

}_{0}}}\;\;\left[ \frac{q}{{{1}^{2}}}+\frac{q}
{{{2}^{2}}}+\frac{q}{{{4}^{2}}}+\,\,…
\right]\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}=\frac{q}{4\pi {{\varepsilon
}_{0}}}\;\;\left[ 1+\frac{1}{4}+\frac{1}{16}+\frac{1}
{64}\,\,…. \right]\end{array} \)
i.e.,

\(\begin{array}{l}E =\frac{q}{4\pi {{\varepsilon

}_{0}}}\;\;\frac{1}{[1-(1/4)]}=\frac{1}{4\pi
{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\;\;\left[ \frac{4}{3}\,q
\right]\end{array} \)
Q.6: On a thin rod of length λ = 1 m, lying
along the x-axis with one end at the origin x
= 0, there is a uniformly distributed charge
per unit length λ = Kx, where K = constant =
10–9 cm–2. Find the work done in displacing a
charge q = 1000 μC from a point (0, √(0.44)
m) to (0, 1 m).

Sol.

The situation is shown in the figure. Consider

a small element of length dx of the rod at a
distance x from the origin. Then, potential dVP
at point P due to this element is given by

\(\begin{array}{l}dVP = \frac{1}{4\pi
{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\;\;\frac{\lambda dx}{r} =
\frac{Kxdx}{4\pi {{\varepsilon }_{0}}r}\end{array}
\)

From the figure,

r2 = x2 + y2

or 2 r dr = 2x dx (y = constant)

\(\begin{array}{l}\therefore dVP =
\frac{K\,r\,\,dr}{4\pi {{\varepsilon }_{0}}\,r} =
\frac{K}{4\pi {{\varepsilon }_{0}}}dr\end{array}
\)
On integrating this expression, we get the
potential at point P. Thus,

\(\begin{array}{l}V_p = \frac{K}{4\pi
{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\;\;\int_{y}^{\sqrt{({{λ
}^{2}}+{{y}^{2}})}}{dr}\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}=\frac{K}{4\pi {{\varepsilon
}_{0}}} [\sqrt{(\lambda^{2}+y^{2})}-
y]\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}\therefore V_{A} = \frac{K}{4\pi

{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}[\sqrt{1.44}-
\sqrt{0.44}]\end{array} \)

\(\begin{array}{l}= 0.5366 \frac{K}{4\pi

{{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\end{array} \)
= (9 × 109) × 10–9 × 0.5366 = 4.83 V

\(\begin{array}{l}V_{B} = \frac{K}{4\pi
{{\varepsilon }_{0}}} [\sqrt{2}-1] = 0.4142\frac{K}
{4\pi {{\varepsilon }_{0}}}\end{array} \)
= (9 × 109) × 10–9× 0.4142 = 3.728 V

Net work done

= q (VB – VA) = 1000 × 10–6 [3.728 – 4.83] = –

1.1 × 10–3 Joule.

You might also be interested in the

following:
HC Verma Solutions
HC Verma Solutions Part 1
HC Verma Solutions Part 2

Frequently Asked Questions

on Equipotential Surface
Q1 What is an equipotential surface?

A surface with an equipotential potential is one

where all points on the surface have the same
electric potential. This means that at every
point on the equipotential surface, a charge
will have the same potential energy.

Q2 What is the value of work done on an

equipotential surface?

The work done in moving a charge between

two points on an equipotential surface is zero.

Q3 List a few properties of the equipotential

surface.

An equipotential surface has an electric field

that is constantly perpendicular to it.
The intersection of two equipotential surfaces
is impossible.
Equipotential surfaces for a point charge are
concentric spherical shells.
Equipotential surfaces are planes normal to
the x-axis, given a homogeneous electric field.
The equipotential surface is directed from high
potential to low potential.
The potential inside a hollow-charged
spherical conductor is constant. Moving a
charge from the centre to the surface requires
no effort.

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