Charge density

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

In electromagnetism, charge density is a measure of electric charge per unit volume of space, in one, two or
three dimensions. More specifically: the linear, surface, or volume charge density is the amount of electric charge
per unit length, surface area, or volume, respectively. The respective SI units are C·m−1, C·m−2 or C·m−3.[1]

Like any density, charge density can depend on position, but because charge can be negative - so can the
density. It should not be confused with the charge carrier density, the number of charge carriers (e.g. electrons,
ions) in a material per unit volume, not including the actual charge on the carriers.

In chemistry, it can refer to the charge distribution over the volume of a particle; such as a molecule, atom or ion.
Therefore, a lithium cation will carry a higher charge density than a sodium cation due to the lithium cation's
having a smaller ionic radius, even though sodium has more protons (11) than lithium (3).

Contents
1 Definitions
1.1 Continuous charges
1.2 Average charge densities
2 Free, bound and total charge
2.1 Total charge densities
2.2 Bound charge
2.3 Free charge density
3 Homogeneous charge density
4 Discrete charges
5 Relative charge density
6 Charge density (quantum mechanics)
7 Application
8 See also
9 References
10 External links

Definitions
Continuous charges

Following are the definitions for continuous charge distributions.[2][3]

The linear charge density is the ratio of an infinitesimal electric charge dQ (SI unit: C) to an infinitesimal line
element,

similarly the surface charge density uses a surface area element dS

and the volume charge density uses a volume element dV

Integrating the definitions gives the total charge Q of a region according to line integral of the linear charge
density λq (r) over a line or 1d curve C,

similarly a surface integral of the surface charge density σq (r)

over a surface S,

and a volume integral of the volume charge density ρq (r) over a

volume V,

Continuous charge distribution. The

where the subscript q is to clarify that the density is for electric
charge, not other densities like mass density, number density,
probability density, and prevent conflict with the many other uses
of λ, σ, ρ in electromagnetism for wavelength, electrical
resistivity and conductivity.
Within the context of electromagnetism, the subscripts are usually
dropped for simplicity: λ, σ, ρ. Other notations may include: ρℓ,
ρs, ρv, ρL, ρS , ρV etc.
volume charge density ρ is the amount of
charge per unit volume (cube), surface
charge density σ is amount per unit surface
area (circle) with outward unit normal n ,
d is the dipole moment between two point
charges, the volume density of these is the
polarization density P. Position vector r is a
point to calculate the electric field; r′ is a
point in the charged object.

Average charge densities

The total charge divided by the length, surface area, or volume will be the average charge densities:

Free, bound and total charge

In dielectric materials, the total charge of an object can separate into "free" and "bound" charges.
Bound charges set up electric dipoles in response to an applied electric field E, and polarize other nearby
dipoles tending to line them up, the net accumulation of charge from the orientation of the dipoles is the bound
charge. They are called bound because they cannot be removed: in the dielectric material the charges are the
electrons bound to the nuclei.[3]

Free charges are the excess charges which can move into electrostatic equilibrium, i.e. when the charges
are not moving and the resultant electric field is independent of time, or constitute electric currents.[2]

Total charge densities

In terms of volume charges densities, the total charge density is:

as for surface charge densities:

where subscripts "f" and "b" denote "free" and "bound" respectively.

Bound charge

The bound surface charge is the charge piled-up at the surface of the dielectric, given by the dipole moment
perpendicular to the surface:[3]

where s is the separation between the point charges constituting the dipole. Taking infinitesimals:

and dividing by the differential surface element dS gives the bound surface charge density:

where P is the polarization density, i.e. density of electric dipole moments within the material, and dV is the
differential volume element.

Using the divergence theorem, the bound volume charge density within the material is

hence:
The negative sign arises due to the opposite signs on the charges in the dipoles, one end is within the volume of
the object, the other at the surface.

A more rigorous derivation is given below.[3]

Derivation of bound surface and volume charge densities from internal dipole moments
(bound charges)
The electric potential due to a dipole moment d is:

For a continuous distribution, the material can be divided up into infinitely many infinitesimal dipoles

where dV = d3r′ is the volume element, so the potential is the volume integral over the object:

Since

where ∇′ is the gradient in the r′ coordinates,

integrating by parts

using the divergence theorem:

which separates into the potential of the surface charge (surface integral) and the potential due to
the volume charge (volume integral):

that is
Free charge density

The free charge density serves as a useful simplification in Gauss's law for electricity; the volume integral of it is
the free charge enclosed in a charged object - equal to the net flux of the electric displacement field D emerging
from the object:

See Maxwell's equations and constitutive relation for more details.

Homogeneous charge density

For the special case of a homogeneous charge density ρ0, independent of position i.e. constant throughout the
region of the material, the equation simplifies to:

The proof of this is immediate. Start with the definition of the charge of any volume:

Then, by definition of homogeneity, ρq (r) is a constant denoted by ρq, 0 (to differ between the constant and non-
constant densities), and so by the properties of an integral can be pulled outside of the integral resulting in:

so,

The equivalent proofs for linear charge density and surface charge density follow the same arguments as above.

Discrete charges
If the charge in a region consists of N discrete point-like charge carriers like electrons the charge density can be
expressed via the Dirac delta function, for example, the volume charge density is:

where r is the position to calculate the charge, qi is the charge of the charge carriers, labelled conveniently by
number using the index i, whose position is ri.
If all charge carriers have the same charge q (for electrons q = −e, the electron charge) the charge density can
be expressed through the charge carrier density n(r) by

Again, the equivalent equations for the linear and surface charge densities follow directly from the above
relations.

Relative charge density

From the perspective of the theory of relativity, the length of a segment of wire depends on velocity of observer,
so charge density is a relative concept. Anthony French[4] has described how the magnetic field force of a
current-bearing wire arises from this relative charge density. He used (p 260) a Minkowski diagram to show
"how a neutral current-bearing wire appears to carry a net charge density as observed in a moving frame." The
approach to electromagnetism through spacetime symmetry is called relativistic electromagnetism.

Charge density (quantum mechanics)

Main article: quantum mechanics

In quantum mechanics, charge density ρq is related to wavefunction ψ(r) by the equation

where q is the charge of the particle and |ψ(r)|2 = ψ*(r)ψ(r) is the probability density function i.e. probability per
unit volume of a particle located at r.

When the wavefunction is normalized - the average charge in the region r ∈ R is

where d3r is the integration measure over 3d position space.

Application
The charge density appears in the continuity equation for electric current, also in Maxwell's Equations. It is the
principal source term of the electromagnetic field, when the charge distribution moves this corresponds to a
current density.

See also
Continuity equation relating charge density and current density
Ionic potential
charge density wave

References
 1. ^ P.M. Whelan, M.J. Hodgeson (1978). Essential Principles of Physics (2nd ed.). John Murray. ISBN 0-7195-
3382-1.
2. ^ a b I.S. Grant, W.R. Phillips (2008). Electromagnetism (2nd ed.). Manchester Physics, John Wiley & Sons.
ISBN 9-780471-927129.
3. ^ a b c d D.J. Griffiths (2007). Introduction to Electrodynamics (3rd ed.). Pearson Education, Dorling
Kindersley. ISBN 81-7758-293-3.
4. ^ A. French (1968) Special Relativity, chapter 8 Relativity and electricity, pp 229–65, W. W. Norton.

A. Halpern (1988). 3000 Solved Problems in Physics. Schaum Series, Mc Graw Hill. ISBN 978-0-
07-025734-4.
G. Woan (2010). The Cambridge Handbook of Physics Formulas. Cambridge University Press.
ISBN 978-0-521-57507-2.
P. A. Tipler, G. Mosca (2008). Physics for Scientists and Engineers - with Modern Physics (6th ed.).
Freeman. ISBN 978-0-7167-8964-2.
R.G. Lerner, G.L. Trigg (1991). Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd ed.). VHC publishers. ISBN 978-0-
89573-752-6.
C.B. Parker (1994). McGraw Hill Encyclopaedia of Physics (2nd ed.). VHC publishers. ISBN 978-
0-07-051400-3.

External links
[1] (http://faculty.wwu.edu/vawter/PhysicsNet/Topics/Gauss/SpacialCharge.html) - Spatial charge
distributions

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Charge_density&oldid=571415145"

Categories: Concepts in physics Density Electrostatics

This page was last modified on 3 September 2013 at 19:26.

Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License; additional terms may
apply. By using this site, you agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.
Wikipedia® is a registered trademark of the Wikimedia Foundation, Inc., a non-profit organization.