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Surface Charge Density on Conducting Cylinder

1) An infinitely long conducting cylinder of radius a has a surface charge density ρs and is surrounded by a dielectric medium with εr = 4. 2) The tangential electric field Et in the dielectric is given by a formula involving 1/r^2. 3) To cancel out Et on the conducting surface, there must be an externally applied electric field. 4) Using Gauss's law in the dielectric medium and setting the total electric field to zero on the conducting surface leads to an expression for the surface charge density ρs of -4ε0sinφ/a2.

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Kareem Mohammad
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734 views2 pages

Surface Charge Density on Conducting Cylinder

1) An infinitely long conducting cylinder of radius a has a surface charge density ρs and is surrounded by a dielectric medium with εr = 4. 2) The tangential electric field Et in the dielectric is given by a formula involving 1/r^2. 3) To cancel out Et on the conducting surface, there must be an externally applied electric field. 4) Using Gauss's law in the dielectric medium and setting the total electric field to zero on the conducting surface leads to an expression for the surface charge density ρs of -4ε0sinφ/a2.

Uploaded by

Kareem Mohammad
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd

Problem 4.

49 An infinitely long conducting cylinder of radius a has a surface


charge density ρs . The cylinder is surrounded by a dielectric medium with εr = 4
and contains no free charges. The tangential component of the electric field in the
region r ≥ a is given by Et = −φ̂φ cos φ /r2 . Since a static conductor cannot have any
tangential field, this must be cancelled by an externally applied electric field. Find
the surface charge density on the conductor.
Solution: Let the conducting cylinder be medium 1 and the surrounding dielectric
medium be medium 2. In medium 2,
1
E2 = r̂Er − φ̂φ cos φ ,
r2
with Er , the normal component of E2 , unknown. The surface charge density is related
to Er . To find Er , we invoke Gauss’s law in medium 2:

∇ · D2 = 0,

or
1 ∂ 1 ∂
µ ¶
1
(rEr ) + − 2 cos φ = 0,
r ∂r r ∂φ r
which leads to
∂ ∂
µ ¶
1 1
(rEr ) = cos φ =− sin φ .
∂r ∂φ r2 r2
Integrating both sides with respect to r,

∂ 1
Z Z
(rEr ) dr = − sin φ dr
∂r r2
1
rEr = sin φ ,
r
or
1
Er = sin φ .
r2
Hence,
1
E2 = r̂ sin φ .
r2
According to Eq. (4.93),
n̂2 · (D1 − D2 ) = ρs ,
where n̂2 is the normal to the boundary and points away from medium 1. Hence,
n̂2 = r̂. Also, D1 = 0 because the cylinder is a conductor. Consequently,

ρs = −r̂ · D2 |r=a
= −r̂ · ε2 E2 |r=a
· ¸¯
1
= −r̂ · εr ε0 r̂ 2 sin φ ¯¯
¯
r r=a
4ε0
= − 2 sin φ (C/m2 ).
a

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