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1 vote
1 answer
33 views

Can the potential of a point charge be considered one-dimensional?

It is well known that,take infinity as 0 potential,the potential at position r of a point charge q placed at the origin is $$V = \frac{1}{4\pi \epsilon _0}\frac{q}{r}$$ it satisfies three dimensional ...
Toboraton's user avatar
  • 109
0 votes
1 answer
89 views

Dirichlet’s Theorem and Solutions to Laplace Equation in Cartesian Coordinates

I have been reading Introduction to Electrodynamics - Griffiths about solving Laplace equation in cartesian coordinates, and in that book, I saw this statement: The functions $\sin(n\pi y/a)$ are ...
Sanjay's user avatar
  • 97
0 votes
1 answer
36 views

Dielectrics terminology

I got confused while reading about dielectrics, so basically my question is: (a) what's the difference between a (homogenous and isotropic) dielectric and (linear) dielectric? Does the first imply the ...
tensorman666's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
19 views

What is the proper term for the linear, surface area, and volume components in density equations?

Say one is looking at charge density. Linear charge density would be given by $$ \lambda = \frac Q \ell $$ surface charge density would by given by $$ \sigma = \frac Q A $$ and volume charge density ...
Kalcifer's user avatar
  • 329
3 votes
1 answer
142 views

Difference between streamlines of $\vec{E}$ electric field E and electric field lines of $\vec{E}$?

I don't understand how streamlines are related to electric fields. I thought they are related to the lines of fluids. I searched and saw that streamlines represent curves of velocity vectors, whereas ...
elie makdissi's user avatar
0 votes
0 answers
50 views

Meaning of reference radius in multipole expansion

I have a given electrostatic potential $\Phi(x,y)$ in 2D and want to see how different it is from a some multipole potential (eg. quadropole). The expansion in the multipole terms is $\Phi(x,y)= \...
Agnieszka's user avatar
  • 195
0 votes
0 answers
55 views

What is the difference between electrostatic and electric potential energy? [duplicate]

In circuits what is the difference between electrostatic and electric potential energy? Side question does electrostatic potential energy even exist in a circuit?
user avatar
0 votes
3 answers
43 views

Terminology: does this situation correspond to an anisotropic but linear dielectric?

Let us assume that for a dielectric the relation $${\vec D}=\epsilon\vec E$$ holds where $\epsilon$ is independent of $\vec E$. However, let $\epsilon$ is not a scalar number but a tensor (or a $3\...
Solidification's user avatar
4 votes
4 answers
4k views

Are capacity and capacitance the same?

Consider two parallel plate capacitors, one with a separation between plates of $d_1$ and other with $d_2$, where $d_1,d_2\ll\sqrt A$, and where $A$ is the area between the plates and both in the same ...
Lalit Tolani's user avatar
0 votes
2 answers
1k views

What does 'per unit charge' mean?

When we say "potential is the potential energy per unit charge", what does a 'unit charge' actually mean? In a worked example from my textbook, when they find the potential difference, they ...
Freddie's user avatar
  • 372
0 votes
3 answers
8k views

Difference between electric field and electric force

What is the difference between electric field and electric force? Both seem to do the same thing, but their formulas are different.
Guri's user avatar
  • 11
0 votes
1 answer
251 views

Why is $\vec{D}$ called displacement field and not $\vec{E}$?

I'm repeating my electrodynamics knowledge and immediately had a very easy question which drives me crazy (and not a dupe, at least I didn't find a suitable answer, although many similar questions): ...
Charles Tucker 3's user avatar
0 votes
1 answer
41 views

What do we mean by electrostatics when charges are in motion?

Charges are always in motion, so what exactly does electrostatics refers to, is it a hypothetical concept or does it hold any sense in particle quantum physics?
Soul's user avatar
  • 3
14 votes
6 answers
3k views

Is there a name for what Feynman called a fundamental constant i.e. "ratio of electrical repulsion to gravitational attraction between electrons"?

Paraphrasing from Feynman's lecture on physics, from the chapter on gravity If we take, in some natural units, the repulsion of two electrons (nature’s universal charge) due to electricity, and the ...
silverrahul's user avatar
  • 4,476
1 vote
1 answer
1k views

Why is the cathode filament in an x-ray tube negatively charged?

Quoted from BU-104b: Battery Building Blocks: The electrode of a battery that releases electrons during discharge is called anode; the electrode that absorbs the electrons is the cathode. Based on ...
Bøbby Leung's user avatar

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