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PH24101 / Tutorial Questions - Module 2: Electromagnetic Theory

(Dated: September 24, 2024)

We begin with clearly highlighting various (sub-)sections of the textbook which spans our
syllabus for this module on physical optics.
Further, we present some of the benchmark question, mostly numerical, from Module II
to be discussed in the tutorials. All the questions not marked by [!] are based directly on the
classroom discussions. It is expected that the students will solve these questions on their
own, or in groups before the tutorial(s). At the same time, questions similar to the ones
contained herein are likely to be asked in your exams. However, note that (i) same questions
should NOT be expected in the exams, (ii) numerical questions beyond these could also be
asked in the exams. In other words, this document is NOT a question bank of any kind.
Therefore, one should aim to understand the underlying concepts well.

All corrections, comments, or suggestion should be emailed to r.ray@bitmesra.ac.in.

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Topics

TABLE I. Based on the book Principles of Electromagnetics by Matthew N.O. Sadiku, (2011) (Fourth Ed.,
ISBN-13: 978–0–19–806229-5, ISBN-10: 0-19-806229-X).

Topic Relevant (sub-)section from book

Gradient, Divergence and Curl, Statement of Gauss theo- Chapter 2

rem & Stokes theorem
Gauss’s law, Applications Sec 3.5, 3.6
Concept of electric potential Sec 3.7
Relationship between E and V Sec 3.8
Polarization of dielectrics, dielectric constant Sec 4.5
Boundary conditions for E & D Sec 4.6
Gauss’s law in magnetostatics Sec 6.5, 6.6
Ampere’s circuital law 6.3, 6.4
Boundary conditions for B & H Sec 7.4, 7.5, 7.6
Equation of continuity, Displacement current, Sec 8.3, 8.4
Maxwell’s equations Sec 8.5
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1. Gradient, Divergence, and Curl.

(a) Calculate the gradient of (i) U = x2 , (ii) U = r2 , (iii) c · r (c is a constant vector).

df  r 
(b) For U = f (r), show that ∇U = dr r .

Comment: ∇U has the property that the rate of change of U with respect to (w.r.t)
distance in a particular direction (d) is the projection of ∇U onto that direction (or
the component of ∇U in that direction. Mathematically, dU/ds = ∇U · dr/ds, where
dU/ds is the directional derivative of U . Of course, it does not make sense to talk
about directional derivatives without specifying the direction.
We could also say that, at any point P, ∇U points in the direction of greatest change
of U at P, and the magnitude equals the rate of change of U with distance in that
direction.
Also, ∇U is normal to a surface of constant U .

(c) Calculate the divergence of (i) xî, (ii) r, (iii) r/r3 , (iv) rc (c is a constant).

Comment: The divergence of a vector field represents the flux generation per unit
volume at each point of the field. (Divergence because it is an efflux not an influx.)

(d) Calculate the curl of (i) −y î + xĵ, (ii) x2 y 2 k̂.

Comment: The curl of the vector field represents the vorticity, or circulation per
unit area of the vector field.

(e) Show that ∇ · (∇ × v) = 0

(f) Show that ∇ × (∇f ) = 0

Comment: Remember, ”d c g(enerator)”, which stands for div of a curl is zero, curl
of a grad is zero!

Comment:

• A vector field with zero divergence is said to be solenoidal.

• A vector field with zero curl is said to be irrotational.

• A scalar field with zero gradient is said to be, er, well, constant.
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(g) Show that the curl of a ⃗r is zero. In general, derive the conditions when the curl of a
radial vector field is zero.

Comment: This is useful to prove that a static electric field is conservative. A common
mistake that students make is to already introduce the notion of scalar potential as
E = −∇V (and not as a work done per unit charge !). There is a fundamental
problem with this approach. More on this, at the end.

(h) Calculate the Laplacian of (i) r2 , (ii) xy 2 z 3 , (iii) 1/r.

Comment: Laplacian is given by ∇ · (∇U ) = ∇2 U , where U is a scalar field.

(i) Explicit statements of Divergence and Stoke’s theorems (mathematical forms).

2. Gauss’s law.

(a) Use Gauss’s law to find the electric field inside a uniformly charged sphere (charge
density ρ) of radius R.

(b) Find the electric field inside a sphere which carries a charge density proportional to the
distance from the origin: r = kr, for some constant k.

(c) Electric field due to an infinite charge sheet with charge density σ.

(d) [!] If the electric field in some region is given by:

⃗ = Ar̂+B sin θ cos ϕϕ̂
E r ,
where A and B are constants, what is the charge density?

Comment: Hint: Use Gauss’s law in spherical polar coordinates. However, note that,
eventually, only the radial integral has to be solved.

(e) For a point charge of 1 × 10−6 C at the centre of a cubical Gaussian surface of sides
0.5 m, determine the flux from the surface?

(f) [!] Suppose the electric potential is given by the expression V (r) = Ae−kr /r, for all r
(A and k are constants). Find the electric field E(r), the charge density ρ(r), and the
total charge Q.
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Comment: This is called the Yukawa potential, or the screened Coulomb potential, and
find numerous applications in the corrent day research in condensed matter physics as
well as in nuclear and particle physics.
This is also an example of a regularizing function: For a badly behaved function, such
as 1/r which has a singularity (blows up!) at r = 0, it can be multiplied by another
function which “controls” the rate of approaching the singularity. In the above case,
the exponential function approaches 1 much faster than the rate at which 1/r blows up.
Therefore, the e−kr is a regularizing function. All calculations can now be done, and
in the end we take the limit k → 0.

Comment: In order to solve this problem, you will need ∇ · (r̂/r2 ) = δ(r). The delta
function is called the Dirac delta function and means that the value of this continuous
function is zero everywhere except at r = 0. In general:

δ(x − a) = 1 if x = a; 0 otherwise.

3. Determination of E for some distribution of charges. For example,

(a) Consider two charges q1 and q2 at ±d/2 from the origin, along the x-axis. Obtain
the electric field at (i) distance z away from the origin along z, (ii) along the distance
x < −d/2 and x > +d/2 along the x axis.

(b) +q and −q charges in the same geometry.

Comment: This is the concept of an electric dipole. Note what happens for situations
similar to (ii) in the problem above.

(c) What happens is the charge q is smeared over length L along the x-axis centered at
origin?

(d) E at some point along the axis of symmetry for a uniform charge distributed as a ring.

Comment: Similar questions for computation of electric potential.

(e) Calculate the electric field at a distance z away along the axis of a disk with uniform
charge density σ. What happens when the radius of the disk tends to be infinitely
large?
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FIG. 1. Charge distribution for Q3(e).

4. Consider the situation shown in the figure below. Calculate the electric field at the center
of the square if q = 1.0 × 10−8 C and a = 5.0 cm.

5. An object having a net charge of 24 µC is placed in a uniform electric field of 610 N/C
directed vertically. What is the mass of this object if it “floats” in the field?

6. Show that E = k[(y 2 )î + (2yz + z 2 )ĵ + (2yz)k̂], where k is a constant, is an impossible
electrostatic field.

7. Show that E = k[(xy)î+(2yz)ĵ +(3xz)k̂] is a valid electrostatic field, and obtain the potential
using origin as the reference point. Check your answer by computing ∇V ..

8. [!] An electric quadrupole consists of two dipole moments of equal magnitude but in opposite
direction. Show that the value of E on the axis of the quadrupole for points at distance
z >> d away from it’s center is

3Q
E= ,
4πϵ0 z 4

where Q = 2qd2 is the quadrupole moment of the charge distribution.

9. A circular current loop of radius R carrying a current I is placed in the xy-plane. A constant
uniform magnetic field cuts through the loop parallel to the y-axis. Find the magnetic force
on the upper half of the loop, the lower half of the loop, and the total force on the loop.

Comment: Significance. The total force on any closed loop in a uniform magnetic field is
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FIG. 2. Re: Q 4; The charge configuration of an electric quadrupole.

zero. Even though each piece of the loop has a force acting on it, the net force on the system
is zero. (Note that there will be a net torque on the loop.)

10. What is magnetic field produced by an infinite wire carrying current I at a distance d from
the wire.

11. Use the above to calculate the magnitude of the magnetic field produced by a straight current-
carrying conductor at a distance of 2 m from it when the current through the conductor is
10A. What about the direction of B.

12. A straight current-carrying conductor is carrying a current of 10 A and another conductor

parallel to it carries a current of 5 A on the opposite side as shown in the figure below. Find
the magnitude of the magnetic field produced by the system at a distance of 2 m.

FIG. 3. For Q10

13. Write down the static and time-dependent Maxwell’s equation in vacuum.
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FIG. 4. A charged particle moving with a velocity not in the same direction as the magnetic field. The
velocity component perpendicular to the magnetic field creates circular motion, whereas the component of
the velocity parallel to the field moves the particle along a straight line. The pitch is the horizontal distance
between two consecutive circles. The resulting motion is helical.

Comment: In principle, one should be able to write down the equations in differential as well
as integral form. All in all, there are 4 × 2 equations for vacuum and 4 × 2 equations in
media. You may also be asked for the ”source-free form” in which case you should set the
charge density and the current density to zero; ρ = 0, J = 0.

14. [!] Show that a charge particle moving perpendicular to an external magnetic field undergoes
a circular motion with angular frequency ω = qB/m, where q, B and m are the charge on
the particle, the strength of the magnetic field, and mass of the particle.

Comment: What would happen in the initial velocity of particle is not perpendicular to B?

Based on the above problem, the component of the velocity perpendicular to B will in-
duce a circular motion, while the component along B will translate the charged particle,
leading to a helical motion (see Fig. 4).

15. Explicitly derive the boundary conditions for E and B at an interface between two media.

16. The square coil with sides l = 0.25 m long and is tightly wound with N = 200 turns of wire.
The resistance of the coil is R = 5.0 Ω. The coil is placed in a spatially uniform magnetic
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field that is directed perpendicular to the face of the coil and whose magnitude is decreasing
at a rate dB/dt = −0.040 T/s. (a) What is the magnitude of the emf induced in the coil?
(b) What is the magnitude of the current circulating through the coil?

Comment: If the area of the loop were changing in time, we would not be able to pull it out
of the time derivative. Since the loop is a closed path, the result of this current would be
a small amount of heating of the wires until the magnetic field stops changing. This may
increase the area of the loop slightly as the wires are heated.

17. Using the capacitor geometry set-up and/or the conservation of charges, argue the need for
displacement current.

18. Statement and meaning of charge continuity equation.

19. Explicitly write down the time-dependent Maxwell’s equations (in vacuum as well as in
media). Also learn the names of these equation, e.g. Gauss’s Law, Ampere’s
(circuital) law, etc.

20. Meaning of ∇ · B = 0

21. Write the expression for Lorentz force (involving both E and B).

22. Meaning of D and H; relation between ϵ and ϵ0 , µ and µ0 .

Comment: It is important to note that although D = ϵ0 E is correct as far as changing

variables is concerned, it contains no physical meaning. It is particularly problematic to use
this form of D since it is generally assumed that D is the effective electric field in a di-
electric medium, and the above holds if and only if the induced polarization is identically zero.

Similarly, B and H are related through the magnetization of the medium.

Comment: General remark. The relation between electric field and electrostatic potential
E = −∇V is possible since the electrostatic field is conservative, implying ∇ × E = 0. Using
the fact that curl of a gradient is always zero, implying that E can be written as proportional
to a gradient term. The sign in front of gradient is due to the fact that the reference in
electrostatics is at ∞. In other words, V (∞) = 0.
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To prove the conservative-ness of electrostatic E, it would suffice to show that curl of

⃗r/r2 is zero. It is, in fact, wrong to assume that a V (r) already exists and its relation with
E is known.

Nevertheless, V (r) can, in principle, be defined as the work done per unit charge
and one may then proceed to show that V (r) are related via a gradient.