A. F.

Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves Fields & Waves Note #10 Capacitance and Energy

10/04

Objectives: Introduce the notion of capacitance, which is the amount of charge a device can store per unit of applied voltage. Illustrate its calculation by solving Laplaces equation for several examples. Introduce an expression for the energy stored in the electric field associated with a charge distribution and use it to calculate the energy stored in capacitors. Capacitance A capacitor is an energy-storage device. Consider the black box device in Figure 1. Suppose that a voltage is applied between the terminals, resulting in a current flow into the device, and further suppose that some charge is stored in the device as a result. The capacitance of the device is the amount of charge stored per unit of applied voltage, or C= Q V (10.1)

The units of capacitance are Farads (F). The external system performed work in order to place the charge into the device, and that work is stored in the device in the form of potential energy. The energy stored in the capacitor is 1 1 W e = QV = CV 2 2 2 The stored energy can be removed from the capacitor and used for some purpose. In this Note, we illustrate the operation of a capacitor from the electromagnetic field perspective. In addition, the capacitance per unit length of parallel strip and coaxial transmission lines will be determined. Finally, the energy stored in a capacitor will be related to the energy density of the associated electric fields. The ideal parallel-plate capacitor Figure 2 depicts the cross section of a parallel-plate capacitor with plates located at x = 0 and x = d. For simplicity, we initially consider an ideal capacitor, for which the fields are only functions of x. Equivalently, we neglect any fringing of the fields near the edges of the plates. Suppose that the two plates are identical in shape and have area A. The problem can be posed mathematically as that of determining the voltage between the plates, given that a voltage difference of V0 is maintained between the plates. The appropriate equation to solve is Laplaces equation 2V = 0 (10.3) (10.2)

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

10/04

subject to the boundary conditions V ( x) x =0 = 0 V ( x ) x = d = V0 The Laplacian simplifies in this situation to 2V 2V 2V V= 2 + 2 + 2 z y x

2

(10.4) (10.5)

d 2V = 2 dx and the resulting differential equation is d 2V =0 dx 2

(10.6)

(10.7)

Since this equation only involves one variable, the solution may be found by integration. The initial step d 2V dx 2 dx = 0dx produces dV = C1 dx where C1 is a constant of integration. A second integration (10.9) (10.8)

dx dx = C dx
1

dV

(10.10)

yields the general solution V ( x ) = C1 x + C2 (10.11)

The constants C1 and C2 are determined from the boundary conditions. Imposing (10.4) results in V ( x ) x = 0 = C1 (0) + C2 = 0 (10.12)

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves implying that C2 = 0 Imposing (10.5) yields V ( x ) x = d = C1d = V0 indicating that C1 = V0 d

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(10.13)

(10.14)

(10.15)

Therefore, the solution is given by V ( x) = V0 x, d 0< x< d (10.16)

The electric field between the plates of the capacitor may be found from E = -V = or, in this case, E =V0 , x d 0< x< d (10.18) dV x dx (10.17)

direction, as sketched in Figure 3. Thus, the electric field is a constant and points in the - x The applied voltage difference of V0 results in charge being stored on the plates of the capacitor. The boundary condition derived in Note #9, eE rs = n surface of a conductor (10.19)

may be used to determine the surface charge density on either plate. For the plate at x = 0, direction and the charge density is given by the normal vector points in the x eE rs = x x =0 =-

eV0 d

(10.20)

direction and we obtain For the plate at x = d, the normal vector points in the - x

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves ) eE rs = (- x x =d =

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eV0 d

(10.21)

Thus, equal and opposite charge density exists on the surface of the plates. Suppose each plate has area A. Then the total charge on the plate at x = 0 is Q x = 0 = rs x = 0 A = while that on the other plate is Q x = d = rs x = d A =

eAV0 d

(10.22)

eAV0 d

(10.23)

The capacitance is the magnitude of the charge on one of the plates divided by the applied voltage, or C=

eA d

(10.24)

This value for the ideal no-fringing situation is actually a lower bound the fringing fields in an actual capacitor allow more energy to be stored and increase the capacitance.

Alternate approach: Gauss Law The preceding result can also be confirmed using the integral form of Gauss Law to determine the electric field between the plates. The application of Gauss Law requires that a surface S be defined in such a way that the normal component of the E -field be constant over one face of the surface and zero over the other faces. In this case, we expect that the electric field will be directed normal to the plates of the capacitor. Therefore, a rectangular surface as depicted in Figure 4 is employed. One face of S resides between the plates at some value of x, and is parallel to the plates, and normal to the electric field. The opposite face of S lies outside of the capacitor, where the fields are zero. The side faces of S are parallel to the electric field. Consequently,

D dS = D
S

DA

(10.25)

where DA is the area of the contributing face of the surface S. Furthermore, if we assume that the charge density on the surface of the plate at x = 0 is constant (consistent with our earlier assumption of no fringing fields), we obtain

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves Qenclosed = rs x = 0 DA Since these results are identical for any position of the face at x, Dx = eE x = rs x = 0 , 0< x< d

10/04 (10.26)

(10.27)

Consequently, Ex is a constant between the plates. Therefore, the applied voltage can be calculated from the line integral V0 = - = - We conclude that Ex = Therefore, V0 d (10.29)
d

x =0 d x =0

E dl E x dx (10.28)

= - Ex d

rs x = 0 = From symmetry considerations,

eV0 d

(10.30)

rs x = d =

eV0 d

(10.31)

These results are identical to those obtained previously. Capacitance per unit length It is sometimes necessary to work with infinitely long structures, such as transmission line geometries. Examples include two parallel strips, as shown in Figure 5, and the coaxial cable, as shown in Figure 6. Since these structures have infinite capacitance, it is necessary to consider the capacitance per unit length. The following examples illustrate the concept.

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves Example:

10/04

Determine the capacitance per unit length for the parallel-strip transmission line whose cross section is shown in Figure 5. Assume that the fields are ideal and no not fringe around the strip edges. In this situation, we again apply a voltage difference of V0 between the strips, and determine the total charge per unit length induced on one of the strips. The problem geometry is similar to the parallel-plate capacitor considered earlier, and if we assume that one plate (grounded) is located at x = 0 and the other (held at voltage V0) is at x = d, the solution is identical: V ( x) = E =V0 x, d 0< x< d 0< x< d (10.32) (10.33)

Solution:

V0 , x d

eE rs = x x =0 =-

eV0 d

(10.34)

) eE rs = (- x x =d =

eV0 d

(10.35)

In the case of infinite strips, the total charge on each strip is infinite. Therefore, we instead consider the charge per unit length q obtained from q x = 0 = rs x = 0 w = q x = d = rs x = d w =

ewV0 d

(10.36) (10.37)

ewV0 d

The capacitance per unit length is the magnitude of the charge per unit length on either strip divided by the applied voltage, or C= q ew = V0 d (10.38)

This result is the ideal capacitance per unit length under the assumption that fringing fields are neglected. One way of carrying out a more accurate analysis when fringing fields are taken into account is considered in Note #11.

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

10/04

Example:

Determine the capacitance per unit length for the coaxial cable whose cross section is shown in Figure 6. In this situation, the geometry exhibits cylindrical symmetry, and we employ cylindrical coordinates to exploit that symmetry. Since there is no variation of applied voltage with f or z, we seek a solution that is a function of r. For a voltage field that is only a function of r, Laplaces equation is 2V = 1 d dV r = 0 r dr dr (10.39)

Solution:

By multiplying through by a factor of r, we simplify the equation to d dV r = 0 dr dr Integrating both sides over r (10.40)

r dr = 0 dr dr
produces dV r = K1 dr

d dV

(10.41)

(10.42)

where K1 is a constant of integration. After dividing by r, we integrate a second time

dr dr =

dV

K1 dr r

(10.43)

to obtain the general solution V ( r) = K1 ln r + K 2 This solution is constrained by the boundary conditions (10.44)

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves V ( r) r = a = V0 V ( r) r = b = 0 The application of these boundary conditions leads to two equations: V ( a) = K1 ln a + K 2 = V0 V (b) = K1 ln b + K 2 = 0 From (10.48), we obtain K2 in the form K 2 = -K1 ln b By substituting this result into (10.47), we obtain K1 = V0 V0 = ln a - ln b ln( a / b)

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(10.45) (10.46)

(10.47) (10.48)

(10.49)

(10.50)

Finally, we obtain the voltage field in the form V ( r) = ln( r / b) V0 , (ln r - ln b) = V0 ln( a / b) ln( a / b) a< r<b (10.51)

The electric field is given by E = -V = dV V0 = r r dr r ln( a / b) (10.52)

Note that, since a < b, ln(a/b) is actually negative and the E -field points in direction! the + r The surface charge densities are given by eE rs r = a = r =r =a

eV0 a ln( a / b) eV0 b ln( a / b)

(10.53)

) eE rs r = b = (- r = r =b

(10.54)

Therefore, the charge per unit length on the inner conductor is

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves q r = a = rs r = a 2pa = 2peV0 ln( a / b)

10/04 (10.55)

while the charge per unit length on the outer conductor is q r = b = rs r = b 2pb = 2peV0 ln( a / b) (10.56)

In this case, there is a different charge density on the inner and outer conductors, but the total charge per unit length is equal and opposite. The capacitance per unit length is given by C= q 2pe 2pe ==+ V0 ln( a / b) ln(b / a) (10.57)

where we switch from ln(a/b) to the positive-valued ln(b/a).

Energy and energy density A general expression for the energy stored in an electrostatic field is 1 W e = eE E 2 (10.58)

where the integration extends over any region containing nonzero fields. The units of energy are Joules (J). The integrand of (10.58) is therefore the energy density 1 w e = eE E 2 (10.59)

We can easily show that the energy calculated from the fields of the previous examples is consistent with the expression presented in (10.2) for the energy stored in a capacitor.

Example:

Calculate the energy stored in the parallel-plate capacitor using both (10.2) and (10.58) to show their equivalence. For the parallel-plate capacitor, the electric field is given by (10.18) as E =V0 , x d 0< x< d (10.60)

Solution:

A. F. Peterson: Notes on Electromagnetic Fields & Waves

10/04

Since this field is constant within the device, the integral in (10.58) is easily evaluated to yield 1 1 V W e = eE E Ad = e 0 Ad = 2 2 d
2

1 eA 2 V 2 d 0

(10.61)

Since the expression in parenthesis is the capacitance, we have established the equivalence.

Example:

Calculate the energy per unit length stored in the coaxial capacitor to show the equivalence of (10.2) and (10.58). For the coaxial structure, the electric field between the conductors is given by (10.52): E= V0 r r ln(b / a) (10.62)

Solution:

The integral can be evaluated as follows (we assign an arbitrary unit length in the variable z): We =
1

z=0 f =0

2p

1 eE E rdrdfdz r =a 2
b 2

1 b V0 = (1)(2p ) e rdr 2 r = a r ln(b / a) 1 V0 = 2pe 2 ln(b / a)

2

1 dr r =a r
b

(10.63)

1 V0 = 2pe ln(b / a) 2 ln(b / a) 1 2pe 2 = V 2 ln(b / a) 0

The expression in parenthesis is the capacitance per unit length, and therefore we have established the equivalence.