Lesson

5

(1) Electric Field of a Line Charge

Consider a long thin rod with a uniform distribution of charge so that the line charge
density ! (C / m ) is the same everywhere on the rod. We will calculate the electric
field at a point close to the rod. For such a point, the rod can be considered to be
infinitely long. Let us place the rod on the y-axis, and the point on the x-axis so that
its x-coordinate is x .



Divide the y-axis into small segments dy . The
charge on this segment is

dq = ! dy
!
It creates the electric field dE as indicated by
the arrow in the figure. The total electric field
is the sum of all these vectors from different
parts of the rod. Instead of adding an
infinitely many small vectors, we first note
that because of symmetry, we expect the total electric field to have only x-
component. Thus it is sufficient to calculate

E x = ! dE x
!
The magnitude of dE is

! k dq k ! dy
dE = 2 2 = 2 2
x +y x +y

The x-component is

! ! x x
dE x = dE cos! = dE = k ! dy
2 32
x 2 + y2 ( x 2
+ y )

Therefore,

+"
dy
Ex = k! x # 32

!" ( x 2 + y2 )

1
The integral can be evaluated by changing from y to the variable ! . From

y = x tan ! dy = x sec 2 ! d!

! 2 ! 2
x sec 2 " d" k" 2k "
Ex = k! x & 32
= & cos# d# =
!
%! 2 x (1+ tan " )
2 2 # x %! 2 x
" $

Note that the electric field falls off as 1/distance. Later when we learn Gauss law,
well give a simpler derivation of this formula.

(2) Electric Field of a Charged Circular Ring

For a circular ring of radius a with uniform line charge density ! , the electric field
at a point on the axis can be calculated easily, because the point is at equal distance
from all the charges on the ring. Suppose the ring is placed on the x-y plane with its
center at the origin, so that the z-axis is its axis. Consider a point P on the z-axis with
z-coordinate z .

Divide the ring into small angular segments d! . The length of such a segment is

d! = ad!

The charge on the segment is

dq = ! d! = ! ad"
!
The electric field dE due to the segment has magnitude

2

! kdq k ! ad"
dE = 2 2
= 2
z +a z + a2

By symmetry, we expect the net electric field to have only z-component.

! ! z k " az
dEz = dE cos ! = dE = 32
d#
z2 + a2 (z2 + a2 )

The electric field is therefore

2!
k ! az k ! az 2 " k ! ( 2" ) az kqz
Ez = ! dEz = " 3 2
d! = 3 2 " d! = =
2 32 2 32
0 (z + a ) ( ) ( ) ( )
2 2 2 2 2 2
z + a 0 z + a z + a

where in the last step, we have replaced ! by the total charge q = ! ( 2" a ) . An easy
way to obtain this result is to multiply the electric field due to total charge q , all at a
distance of z 2 + a 2 from the point concerned, by the constant factor cos ! :

kq kq z
Ez = 2 2 cos ! = 2 2
z +a z + a z + a2 2

(3) Electric Field of a Uniformly Charged Circular Disk

The electric field due to a uniformly charged circular disk at a point on its axis can
also be calculated using the result for a ring. Let a be the radius of the disk, which
we place on the x-y plane with its center at the origin. Let ! be the surface charge
density. The axis of the disk is the z-
axis. Let the z-coordinate of the
point P be z .


Divide the disk into thin rings of
radius r and thickness dr . The
charge on the ring is

dq = ! ( 2" rdr )

The electric field due to this ring at
the point P has only z-component,
and is equal to

3
 dEz =
(kdq) z = 2! k" z
rdr

2 32 32
(z 2
+r ) (z 2
+ r2 )

The total electric field is therefore

a
rdr
Ez = 2! k" z !
2 32
0 (r + z )
2

Change to the variable ! using:

r = z tan ! dr = zsec 2 ! d! ! max = tan !1 ( a z )

! max
z tan # zsec 2 # d#
! max # z &
E x = 2! k" z ! 32
= 2" k# ! sin! d! = 2" k# (1" cos! ) = 2! k" %%1"
max ((
0 z 3 (1+ tan 2 # ) 0 $ z2 + a2 '


(4) Electric Field due to an Infinite Charged Sheet

When the radius a of the circular disk becomes very large compared with z , the
electric field of the circular disk at P becomes

# z&
Ez ! 2! k" %1" ( ! 2! k"
$ a'

This can be considered the electric field due to an infinite sheet charge of uniform
density ! at any point, and is independent of the location of the point . The field
lines are as shown:


The Coulomb constant can be written
in the form

1
k=
4!" 0

where ! 0 = 8.85 !10 "12 C 2 / N # m 2 is
called the permittivity of free space.
The electric field due to an infinite
sheet can be written

4
 !
E=
2" 0

The electric field due to multiple sheets is the vector sum of the field of the
individual sheets. An important case is a pair of parallel sheets with surface charge
densities ! and !! respectively. For points on either side of the pair, the electric
fields due to the two sheets cancel out. For any point between the sheets, the electric
fields due to the two add. Therefore, the electric field is confined to the space
between the sheets, and is given by

!
E =
"0

pointing from the positive to the negative sheet. The field lines
deviate from straight lines only near the edges of the sheets.