Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-2-paper-of-the-university-of-oxford/2015/2/b/solution
Past exam of the physics 2 paper of the University of Oxford 2015 2 b Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-25
Neglect fringing field near the edges of the parallel-plate capacitor. Put the plates at , with prescribed electric potentials . Translational symmetry parallel to a plane makes the electrostatic potential independent of the coordinates parallel to the plates. Thus Laplace's equation reduces to . Its general solution is , and the two boundary conditions determine both constants:The electric field is uniform and points toward decreasing electric potential. No plate voltages are specified, so a numerical electric potential cannot be fixed; choosing one plate as the reference only fixes the arbitrary additive constant.
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