Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2018 ii Paper 4 36D a Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-10-03
The electric polarization is electric dipole moment per unit volume. A polarized body acts as the bound volume and surface charge densityIndeed, summing the scalar potential of its dipoles and integrating by parts givesThis is exactly the potential of and .
For the central free charge, Gauss's law for the electric displacement field givesThus on the sphere,
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2020 ii Paper 4 36D b i Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-29
For a time-independent field, Faraday's law gives . Integrating around a thin rectangular loop crossing and shrinking its height gives continuity of the tangential component:A thin Gaussian pillbox and give continuity of the normal electric displacement field:These are the electrostatic cases of the dielectric-interface boundary conditions.
Past exam of the mathematics course of the University of Cambridge 2022 ii Paper 4 36B b Solution Created 2026-09-24 Updated 2026-09-25
The electric polarization is electric dipole moment per unit volume. It producesThe electric displacement field is useful becauseso it separates free charge from the bound charge represented by . In a linear isotropic dielectric, .
Spherical symmetry and Gauss's law for give, on both sides of the interface,ThusWith pointing from medium one to medium two, the net bound sheet charge at is the polarization jumpIf one assigns surface charge separately to the inner body and outer medium, their contributions are and ; their sum is the displayed physical interface charge.