FIELDS DUE TO CONTINUOUS

CHARGE DISTRIBUTIONS
• What is the electric field at the
origin for the arc of charge shown
in the diagram at the right?
• The arc has a total charge 𝑄 and
a radius 𝑅
• In magnitude our field differential
is

• 𝑑𝐸 = 𝑘𝑑𝑞
𝑅2

• Let’s examine our charge

differential 𝑑𝑞
• Since the total charge on the arc is 𝑄, the
charge density is

• 𝜆=
𝑄
2𝜋𝑅 =
2𝑄
𝜋𝑅
( since our arc is ¼ the
( )
4
circumference of a circle)

• The field differential 𝑑𝐸 is shown due to

the charge differential 𝑑𝑞
• Let’s examine the charge
differential
• The arc length defined by the
differential is 𝑅𝑑𝜙
• Our differential becomes
• 𝑑𝑞 = 𝜆𝑅𝑑𝜙
• We see that our overall field is going to have
an x and y component so let’s split 𝑑𝐸 into
𝑑𝐸𝑥 and 𝑑𝐸𝑦
𝑘𝜆𝑅𝑑𝜙
• 𝑑𝐸𝑥 = − 𝑅2 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙𝑖Ƹ
• The negative sign is because the field is in the
negative x direction

• 𝑑𝐸𝑦 = − 𝑘𝜆𝑅𝑑𝜙
𝑅2
𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙𝑗Ƹ
• We can now integrate for each component

• Since our charge differential now involves 𝑑𝜙 we must integrate

𝜋
from 𝜙 = 0 to 𝜙 =
2

𝜋
−𝑘𝜆𝑅𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙𝑑𝜙
𝐸𝑥 = ‫׬‬ 2 𝑖Ƹ
0 𝑅2

𝜋
𝑘𝜆
𝐸𝑥 = − ‫׬‬0 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙𝑑𝜙 𝑖Ƹ
2
𝑅
 𝜋
𝑘𝜆 2
=− [𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙𝑖]Ƹ 0
𝑅

𝑘𝜆 𝜋
•= − 𝑅 𝑖[𝑠𝑖𝑛
Ƹ − −𝑠𝑖𝑛0]
2

𝑘𝜆
•= − 𝑅 𝑖Ƹ

𝜋
𝑘𝜆
𝐸𝑦 = − ‫׬‬0 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙𝑑𝜙 𝑖Ƹ
2
𝑅
 𝜋
𝑘𝜆 2
𝐸𝑦 = 𝑗[𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙]
Ƹ |0
𝑅

• = 𝑘𝜆
𝑅
𝑗[𝑐𝑜𝑠
Ƹ
𝜋
2
− 𝑐𝑜𝑠0]

𝑘𝜆
• = − 𝑅 𝑗Ƹ

𝑘𝜆
• 𝐸 = − 𝑅 (𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗)Ƹ
 2𝑄
• Where, λ = 𝜋𝑅 ,giving us

𝑘 2𝑄
• 𝐸 = − 𝑅 𝜋𝑅 (𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗)Ƹ

2𝑘𝑄
• 𝐸 = − 𝜋𝑅2 (𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗)Ƹ

• We see that the electric field strength depends on the charge on the arc and
inversely on the square of the radius of the arc

•
 WHAT IS THE DIRECTION OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD AT THE
ORIGIN DUE TO THE INDICATED UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED
ARC OF CHARGE? THE ARC HAS A NEGATIVE CHARGE
• A) 𝑖Ƹ
• B) −𝑖Ƹ
• C) 𝑗Ƹ
• D) −𝑗Ƹ
• By symmetry we see the x components of the field sum to zero

• Since the charge is negative the field must be in the negative y direction

• If the charge had been positive the field would have been in the positive y
direction
WHAT IS THE DIRECTION OF THE ELECTRIC FIELD AT THE
ORIGIN DUE TO THE INDICATED UNIFORMLY DISTRIBUTED
ARC OF CHARGE? THE ARC HAS A POSITIVE CHARGE
• A) 𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ
• B) −𝑖Ƹ − 𝑗Ƹ
• C) −𝑖Ƹ + 𝑗Ƹ
• D) 𝑖Ƹ − 𝑗Ƹ
• Another important field is that
produced by a wire
• First let’s consider a wire with
length 2a centred about the
origin with a charge 𝑄
• What is the field at a distance h
above the midpoint of the wire?
• By symmetry we can see that there
will be no field in the x direction 𝜃
𝜃
• So we must find 𝑑𝐸𝑦
𝑘𝑑𝑞
• 𝑑𝐸𝑦 = 𝑟2
∙ 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃𝑗Ƹ
ℎ
• Where 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 = 𝑟
 𝑘𝑑𝑞 ℎ
• 𝑑𝐸𝑦 = 𝑟2
∙ 𝑗Ƹ
𝑟
𝑘ℎ𝑑𝑞 𝜃
•= 𝑟3
𝑗Ƹ
1
•𝑟= 𝑥 + 2
ℎ2 2

• We can express our differential in

terms of 𝑥
 𝑄
• 𝑑𝑞 = 𝜆𝑑𝑥 where 𝜆 = 2𝑎

𝑄
• 𝑑𝑞 = 2𝑎 𝑑𝑥

𝑘ℎ𝑄
• 𝑑𝐸𝑦 = 2𝑎𝑟 3 𝑑𝑥 𝑗Ƹ

𝑘ℎ𝑄
•= 3 𝑑𝑥 𝑗Ƹ
2𝑎 2 2
𝑥 +ℎ 2
• Now we must integrate from 𝑥 = −𝑎 to 𝑥 = 𝑎
𝑎 𝑘ℎ𝑄
• 𝐸𝑦 = ‫׬‬−𝑎 3 𝑑𝑥𝑗Ƹ
2𝑎 2 2
𝑥 +ℎ 2

𝑘ℎ𝑄 𝑎 1
•= ‫׬‬
2𝑎 −𝑎 3 𝑑𝑥𝑗Ƹ
2 2
𝑥 +ℎ 2

• This is an integral that needs to be looked up from a table of integrals

 𝑎 1
• ‫׬‬−𝑎 3 𝑑𝑥𝑗Ƹ
2 2
𝑥 +ℎ 2

1 𝑥 𝑎
• = ℎ2 1
2 2
𝑥 +ℎ 2 −𝑎
1 𝑎 −𝑎
• = ℎ2 1 − 1
2 2
𝑎 +ℎ 2 2 2
𝑎 +ℎ 2
 1 2𝑎
• ℎ2 1 substituting back into our expression for the field yields
2 2
𝑎 +ℎ 2

𝑘ℎ𝑄 1 2𝑎
• 𝐸𝑦 = 2𝑎 ℎ 2 1 𝑗Ƹ
2 2
𝑎 +ℎ 2

𝑘𝑄 1
• 𝐸𝑦 = ℎ 1 𝑗Ƹ
2 2
𝑎 +ℎ 2

• This equation will be found on your formula sheet. You will NOT need to
derive it!
• We see that the field decreases as the perpendicular distance h increases
• In comparison to a point charge even a few cm long wire is essentially an
infinite length
𝑄
• Let’s express our field back in terms of the charge density 𝜆 = 2𝑎 so
• 𝑄 = 2𝑎𝜆
• 𝐸𝑦 = 2𝑘𝜆𝑎
ℎ
1
1 𝑗Ƹ
2 2
𝑎 +ℎ 2

• Let’s factor 𝑎2 out of our denominator

• 𝐸𝑦 = 2𝑘𝜆𝑎
ℎ
1
1 𝑗Ƹ =
2𝑘𝜆𝑎
ℎ
1
1 𝑗Ƹ
1 ℎ2 2
ℎ2 2
2
𝑎 2 1+ 2 𝑎 1+ 2
𝑎 𝑎
• 2𝑘𝜆
ℎ
1
1 𝑗Ƹ so we see that when the length of the wire becomes infinite
2
ℎ 2
1+ 2
𝑎
this simplifies greatly to
2𝑘𝜆
• ℎ
𝑗Ƹ since the field is always pointing away from the wire, we will write this
as
2𝑘𝜆
•𝐸= ℎ
𝑟Ƹ this formula also is on your formula sheet
• A very long wire with a charge density of 3.5 𝑛𝐶
𝑚
is along the x axis. What is the
field at a point ( 0, 2.7 cm)
• A) 23 𝑘𝑁
𝐶
𝑗Ƹ

• B) 2.3 𝑘𝑁
𝐶
𝑗Ƹ

• C) −2.3 𝑘𝑁
𝐶
𝑗Ƹ

• D) −23 𝑘𝑁
𝐶
𝑗Ƹ
• Because the charge is positive it must be radially outwards ( positive 𝑗)Ƹ
𝑚2
2𝑘𝜆 2×9.0×10 𝑁 2 ×3.5×10−9 𝐶
9
𝑁
𝐸= = 𝐶
= 2.3 × 103
ℎ 0.027 𝑚 𝐶