Generalized Coulomb's law and Potential	Mar 12, 2007


+ PROBLEM: How to find [equation] for CONTINUOUS source(s) (Sect. 3.3.2)?

+ Continuous charge distribution
line charge density , [equation] (C/m); charge [equation]
surface charge density , [equation] ; charge [equation]
volume charge density , [equation] ; charge [equation]

+ line charge: [equation]
surface charge: [equation]
volume charge: [equation]
Keys: Pick a convenient coordinates; determine dl, dS or dv (note: these are scalars).
Write position vector [equation] of the observation point (fixed), i.e. a fixed vector from the origin to the point of interest.
Write position vector [equation] of the source point (varying along the source), i.e. the vector that starts from the origin and scans over the charged object.
Exploit symmetry of charge distribution and expand unit vectors into rectangular ones if necessary.
Example 3.2: Coulomb's law for a continuous line charge
Example 3.4: Coulomb's law for a continuous ring of charges

+ Steps (Sect 3.3): Pick a convenient coordinates,
Use dl, ds or dv depending on the type of sources,
Identify the position vector of the observation point [equation] (a variable), the position vector of the source point [equation] (the integration variable disappearing after integration) and compute the distance between observation point and each source point [equation] .

+ [equation] to V (Sect 3.5): work or energy [equation] with
relative [equation] ; absolute [equation]
Example 3.5: Absolute potential for a point

+ V to [equation] : Maxwell's equation, [equation]
So [equation] is irrotational or conservative [equation]
Stroke's theorem implies [equation]
Path independent -- [equation]

+ system of point charges: [equation]
Example 3.6: Potential of a system of point charges
line charge: [equation]
surface charge: [equation]
volume charge: [equation]
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HW #14	Due 3/29/07

1. Problem 3.3 (page 143) [Two point charges [equation] and [equation] , are located at (0,5,-1) and (0,-2,6), respectively. Find the relation between [equation] and [equation] such that the total force on a test charge at the point P(0,2,3) will have a) no y-component, and b) no z-component. Notice each condition give a relation]
2. Determine the total charge (a) on line [equation] m if [equation] mC/m and (b) within the sphere [equation] m if [equation] .
Extra-credit
Prob. 3.7 (page 144) [A line charge of uniform density [equation] forms a semicircle of radius b in the upper half xy-plane. Determine the magnitude and direction of the electric field intensity ([equation] ) at the center of the semicircle.]


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Last Modified: March 11, 2007
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