CH 2- ELECTROSTATIC

POTENTIAL AND
CAPACITANCE
 DO YOU KNOW?
The electric field around a charge can be described in two ways:
1) By Electric field
2) By Electrostatic or Electric potential V
The electric field is a vector quantity while the electric potential is a
scalar quantity. Both of these quantities are the characteristic
properties of any point in a field and are inter related.
ELECTRIC POTENTIAL AND POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE 3

Electric Potential at a point in the electric field is defined as the work

done in moving (without any acceleration) a unit positive charge from
infinity to that point against the electrostatic force.

Electrostatic potential difference between two points is defined as the

work done in bringing a unit positive charge from one point to another.

Let us consider a point charge +q located at point O. Let A and B be

two points in its electric field . When a test charge is moved from A to
B, a work has to be done in moving against the repulsive force
exerted by the charge +q.

thus potential difference between points A and B can be written as:

V= - =
S.I Unit = Volt or Nm or J
 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DUE TO A POINT CHARGE
Consider a positive charge q placed at the oriogin O. To calculate the electric potential at a point P at distance r from it
we know that it will equal to the amount of work done in bringing unit positive charge from infinity to th point P.
Suppose a test charge ia placed at point B at distance x from point O. Thus bu Coulombslaw, the electrostatic force is
given as F =
The force F acts away from charge q. The small work done in moving the test charge from B to A trough small
displacement dx against the electrostatic force is
dW = . = Fdx cos 180 = - F dx

W= =-=-

W=

W= [- ]

W=
We know that V =
Thus, V =
• From the above formula we can see that V which means that the electric
potential due to a point charge is spherically symmetric as it depends
only on the distance of the observation point from the charge and not on
the direction of that point with respect to the point charge. Also,
Potential at infinity is zero.
• Variation of V and E can be shown in the graph below:
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POTENTIAL DUE TO A SYSTEM OF CHARGES
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Presentation title
NUMERICALS 8
 EQUIPOTENTIAL SURFACES AND THEIR PROPERTIES
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Any surface that has same electric potential at every point on it is called an
equipotential surface. The surface may be surface of a body or a surface in space.

Properties of Equipotential surface:

1. No work is done in moving a test charge over an equipotential surface.
2. Electric field is always normal to the equipotential surface at every point.
3. Equipotential surfaces are closer together in the regions of strong field and farther
apart in the regions of weak field.
4. No two equipotential surfaces can intersect each other.
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ELECTRIC POTENTIAL DUE TO A SYSTEM OF CHARGES
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 POTENTIAL ENERGY IN AN EXTERNAL FIELD
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I. POTENTIAL ENERGY OF A SINGLE CHARGE: Electric potential at a given point in an external field as the
potential energy of a unit positive charge at that point.
We wish to determine the potential energy of a charge q in an ~ external electric field E at a point P where
the corresponding external potential is V. By definition, V at a point P is the amount of work done in
bringing a unit positive charge from infinity to the point P. Thus, the work done in bringing a charge q is W
= qV
P. E. of a charge in an external field = Charge x external electric potential
V = U/q
II. POTENTIAL ENERGY OF A SYSTEM OF TWO CHARGES:
Work done in bringing q1 from to r1 against the external
field = V()
Work done in bringing q1 from to r2 against the external field=
field = V()
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 POTENTIAL ENERGY OF A DIPOLE IN A UNIFORM ELECTRIC FIELD
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Let us consider an electric ~ dipole placed in a uniform electric field E with its dipole moment p making an angle with the field.
Two equal and opposite forces + q E and - q E act on its two ends. The two forces form a couple.
The torque exerted by the couple will be 't = qE x 2a sin = pE sin where q x 2 a = p, is the dipole moment.
Presentation title
NUMERICALS 15
 CONDUCTORS AND INSULATORS
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On the basis of their behaviour in an external electric field, most of the materials can be broadly
classified into two categories:
CONDUCTORS – These are the substances which allow large scale physical movement of electric
charges through them when an external electrical field is applied. Eg: silver, copper, human body , acids
etc.

INSULATORS- These are the substances that do not allow physical movement of electric charges
through them when an external field is applied. Eg: glass, wood. Mica etc.

• The rubbed insulators were able to retain charges placed on them, so they were called dielectrics.
• The rubbed conductors (metals) could not retain charges placed on them but immediately drained
away the charges, so they were called non-electrics.
 FREE AND BOUND CHARGES
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In metallic conductors, the electrons of the outer shells of the atoms are loosely bound
to the nucleus. They get detached from the atoms and move almost freely inside the
metal. In an external electric field, these free electrons drift in the opposite direction
of the electric field. The positive ions which consist of nuclei and electrons of inner
shells remain held in their fixed positions. These immobile charges constitute the
bound charges.
• In electrolytic conductors, both positive and negative ions act as charge carriers.
However, their movements are restricted by the external electric field and the
electrostatic forces between them.
• In insulators, the electrons are tightly bound to the nuclei and cannot be detached
from the atoms, i.e., charges in insulators are bound charges. Due to the absence of
free charges, insulators are poor conductors of electricity.
 BEHAVIOUR OF CONDUCTORS IN ELECTROSTATIC FIELD
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1.Electrostatic field is zero inside a conductor-When a conductor is placed in an electric field , its free
electrons begin to move in the opposite direction of . Negative charges are induced on the left end and
positive charges are induced on the right end of the conductor. The process continues till the electric field
set up by the induced charges becomes equal and opposite to the field . Thus, the net field inside the
conductor will be zero.
2. At the surface of a charged conductor, electrostatic field must be normal to the surface at every point. If
E were not normal to the surface, there will be some non-zero components along the surface. Free charges
on the surface of the conductor would then experience force and move in the static situation. Thus. E
should have no tangential component.
3. There is no excess charge at any point inside the conductor than in the static situation and any excess
charge must reside at the surface.
4. Electrostatic potential is constant throughout the volume of the conductor and has the same value as
inside on its surface.
5. Electric field at the surface of a charged conductor is E = n
 ELECTROSTATIC SHIELDING 19

• Consider a conductor with a cavity, with no charges placed inside the cavity. Whatever be the size
and shape of the cavity and whatever be the charge on the conductor and the external fields in
which it might be placed, the electric field inside the cavity is zero, i.e., the cavity inside the
conductor remains shielded from outside electric influence. This is known as electrostatic shielding.
Such a field free region is called a Faraday cage. The phenomenon of making a region free from any
electric field is called electrostatic shielding. It is based on the fact that electric field vanishes inside
the cavity of a hollow conductor.
• The phenomenon of making a region free from any electric field is called electrostatic shielding.
• It is based on the fact that electric field vanishes inside the cavity of a hollow conductor.
• Applications of electrostatic shielding:
1. In a thunderstorm accompanied by lightning, it is safest to sit inside' a car, rather than near a tree
or on the open ground. The metallic body of the car becomes an electrostatic shielding from
lightning.
2. Sensitive components of electronic devices are protected or shielded from external electric
disturbances by placing metal shields around them.
 DIELECTRIC POLARISATION
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When a non polar dielectric is held in an external electric field E, the centre of the positive charge (protons)
in each molecule is pulled in the direction of the electric field and the centre of negative charge (electrons) in
each molecule is pulled in the direction opposite to the electric field.

Therefore, the centres of the positive and negative charges are separated, This is called dielectric polarisation.
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When no external electric field is applied to the dielectric with polar molecules, then the
different permanent dipoles are oriented randomly which makes the total dipole moment
zero.

When an external electric field is applied , the individual dipole moments tends to align
with the field. When summed over all the molecules , there appears some net dipole
moment in the direction of the electric field , i.e, the dielectric is polarised.

Thus, in either case whether polar or non-polar, a dielectric develops a net dipole
moment in the presence of an external field.
 ELECTRIC SUSCEPTIBILITY
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It is found that the electric polarisation P is directly proportional to the effective electric field E in a polarised dielectric.
P E
P=E
Where is a constant pronounced as ‘chi’
is known as the electric susceptibility of dielectric which helps to describe the electric behaviour of a dielectric.
For vacuum, = 0

Effective electric field in a polarised dielectric = E (original) – E (polarisation)

Q) Why does the electric field inside the dielectric decrease

when it is placed in an external electric field?
A. Ref. to the figure and answer.
Presentation title
CAPACITANCE AND CAPACITORS 23
• The capacitance of a conductor may be defined as the charge required to increase the potential of the
conductor by unit amount.
• Q = CV
• The capacitance of a conductor is the measure of its capacity to hold a large amount of charge without
running a high potential. It depends upon the following factors :
1. Size and shape of the conductor.
2. Nature (permittivity) of the surrounding medium.
3. Presence of the other conductors in its neighbourhood.

The 51 unit of capacitance is farad (F), named in the honour of Michael Faraday. The capacitance of conductor is
1Farad if the addition of a charge of coulomb to it, increases its potential by 1volt.
 Presentation title PARALLEL PLATE CAPACITOR 24

• The simplest and the most widely used capacitor is the parallel plate capacitor. It consists of two large plane parallel
conducting plates, separated by a small distance.
Presentation title
COMBINATION OF CAPACITORS 25
CAPACITORS IN SERIES CAPACITORS IN PARALLEL
Presentation title
NUMERICALS 26
 EFFECT OF DIELECTRIC ON CAPACITANCE 27

When a dielectric is placed in a very high electric field, the outer electrons may get detached from their parent atoms.
The dielectric then behaves like a conductor. This phenomenon is called dielectric breakdown.
The maximum electric field that can exist in a dielectric without causing the breakdown of its insulating property is
called dielectric strength of the material.
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CAPACITANCE OF A CAPACITOR WITH A DIELECTRIC SLAB
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Presentation title NUMERICALS 31
ENERGY STORED IN A CAPACITOR
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NUMERICALS
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THANK YOU