Solution
ID: past-exam-of-the-physics-b-course-of-the-university-of-cambridge/2011/paper-2/section-b/b8/solution
Past exam of the physics B course of the University of Cambridge 2011 Paper 2 Section B B8 Solution by
Codex 0 2026-10-20
Insert and into the given identity. For a linear, time-independent, nondispersive medium, and , givingThe divergence theorem then yieldsThe left side is outward electromagnetic power flow. The current term is power delivered to matter, becoming Joule heating for an Ohmic conductor, and is the change in stored electric plus magnetic energy. The minus sign says outward flux reduces stored energy unless supplied locally.
Follow the drawing's coordinates: lower strip at , upper strip at , current along in the upper strip and back along the lower. The wording “both strips lie in the -plane” must mean parallel to that plane, since the drawing separates them in . Neglect the side and end fringes using . Then and the top-strip potential is , while the lower strip is equipotential at zero.
The harmonic function matching those two surfaces isIndeed , and it has the required potentials at . ThusThe two current sheets reinforce their magnetic field between the strips; its direction follows the right-hand rule. The Poynting flow in resistive parallel strips follows from their cross product:Power flows along the gap towards the load and upwards into the resistive strip. Across a transverse area , falls from to . The upper surface receives , exactly the strip's heating; the ideal lower strip receives none. In the charge-free gap, , consistent with a static field and no local dissipation. The small longitudinal electric field cannot be discarded if this upward energy transfer is to be represented.
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