Unit 3 Conduction Field and Electrostatic Field in

Materials
In this unit, we will study the behaviour of conduction field
and electrostatic field in materials.
For conduction field, the follow topics will be studied:
the
continuity equation;
Ohms law.

For electrostatic field in materials, the follow topics will be

studied:
dipole;
dielectric polarization;
boundary conditions;
capacitors;
stored energy in capacitors.
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Part 1: Conduction Field
3.1 Types of materials
Basically there are two types of materials:
Conductors:
In which many free electrons are available for electrical
conduction.

Insulators (dielectrics):
In which no free electrons are available for conduction.
A large electric field may cause breakdown in the
electronic structure of the atoms.

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3.2 Electric current and current density
Electric current I is due to charges in motion.
Charge flow electric current
For a conduction to take place, charge must be free to move.
For most metals, the electrons within them can move freely
and can be used as current carriers to conduct current.
Direction of electron movement
Current direction

Area S

E
S

_
+
V

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Lets see a cylindrical conductor.

Fig. 3.1 A cylindrical conductor carrying current

If in the time t, the charge Q passes through the surface
S, current I is defined as
Q
I
t
More generally,
Q dQ
I lim I
t 0 t dt (3.1)

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 I

If V = volume charge density

u = velocity of moving charge
then the charge passing through surface S in time t is:
Q V d (vol ) V Sx (3.2)
Current in the conductor filament is:
Q V Sx x
I V S V u S
t t t
Hence the current density J is
I V uS
J V u
S S (3.3)
In vector form,
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 J V u (3.4)
If an arbitrary surface S is considered, the current is given by
I J dS V u dS (3.5)
S S

Three cases:
(1) If J is uniform across a plane area S
J and S have the same direction: I JS .

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(2) If Jis non-uniform, Small J

J and S have the same direction:

I JdS
S

Large J Small J

(3) If J is non-uniform,
x

J and S have different directions: I J dS

S

C u rren t flu x lin e

L arg e J
S m all J y

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 Direct current (dc) is the unidirectional flow of electric
charge.

Direct current Alternating current

Such dc current field in conductors is called dc conduction

field.
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3.3 The continuity equation

Kirchhoffs current law for steady current

If the surface through which current flows is closed,

dQinside
0
and dt ,
then the net current flowing out of the surface is zero.

J dS 0
S

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 Understand Kirchhoffs current law
J dS J dS J dS J dS J dS
S SA SB SC SD

I A I B IC I D 0

Therefore, in Electrical Circuit, Kirchoffs

current law can be stated as:

The sum of all currents leaving a node is zero.

Current flows through wires much like water flows through pipes. If
you have a definite amount of water entering a closed pipe system,
the amount of water that enters the system must equal the amount of
water that leaves the system.

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 The continuity equation
Fig. 3.2 shows a surface S enclosing a charge Qinside and a
current I is flowing out of the surface.

Fig. 3.2 An arbitrary surface S enclosing an electric charge

The total current flowing out of S is

J dS
dQinside
I out
S dt (3.6)
(the negative sign - means that the charge will
reduce when the current flows out)
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By divergence theorem*,
J dS
S vol
( J )d (vol )
The enclosed charge is
Qinside V d (vol )
vol

J dS ( J )d (vol ) V d (vol )
dQinside d
I out S vol dt dt vol
d
V d (vol )
vol
dt

V
or*
J div J
(Continuity equation)
t (3.7)
i.e. the current diverging from a unit volume is equal to the
time rate of decrease of charge per unit volume.

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3.4 Ohms law
In conductors or semiconductors the velocity of an electron
(drift velocity d) is proportional to the applied electric field
E, i.e.
d n E (- means that the electrons speed is opposite to E )
(3.8)
where n is a coefficient, called the mobility in m2/Vs
(meter2/Voltsecond)
Consider a metallic conductor shown in Fig. 3.3.

Fig. 3.3 Illustrating Ohms law

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J V u nqe n E nqe n E (3.9)
where V = charge density = nqe
qe = charge of an electron = 1.610-19 C
n = number of electrons / m3 (i.e. charge carrier
density).
If we define: = nqen = conductivity of material
(S/m, siemens/meter)
resistivity = 1/ (m)
we have,
J E (Ohms law in point form) (3.10)

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 Fig. 3.3
Now in Fig. 3.3, J is uniformly distributed, E and J are
along to one direction, V El , I = JS
I
J l l
V El l l I S IR ,
S R
S (3.11)
V IR (3.12)
Eqn. (3.12) is the common form of Ohms law as used in
circuit theory.

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In some simple situations, the conduction field problem can
be simplified as an electric circuit problem.

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