Physics 505 Electricity and Magnetism Fall 2003

Prof. G. Raithel

Problem Set 2

Problem 1.17 5 Points

a): There are n conductors with surfaces Si , potentials Vi and charges Qi (i = 1, ..., n). Assume that there
is only one conductor with non-zero potential. Call the index of that conductor k, its potential V , and its
charge Q.

Z
0 ||2 d3 x = (by Green I)
Z ZV
2 3
0 d x + 0 da =
V V n
Xn Z

0 + 0 Vi da =
i=1 Si n
n
X Z Z
Vi da = Vk da = VQ
i=1 Si Sk

R
Setting V=1, we have QV = CV 2 = C with capacitance C, and therefore C = 0 V
||2 d3 x q.e.d. .

b): Write = +, with being the exact solution for the potential, and being the difference between
the test function and . Note that = 0 on all surfaces Si .

R
R R 0R V ||2 d3 x =
0 Z V ||2 d3 x + 20 ZV d3 x + 0 ZV ||2 d3 x = | by a) and Green I

C 20 ()d3 x + 2 da + 0 ||2 d3 x = | since 0
V V n V
| {z } | {z } | {z }
C + 0 + 0 + C
(1)
R
Thus, for all satisfying the boundary conditions it is C 0 V
||2 d3 x q.e.d. .
Problem 1.22 5 Points

For a well-behaved function f (x, y), the k-th order Taylor expansion around (x0 , y0 ) is

m+n=k
X 1 (m) (n)
f (x, y) = x y f |(x0 ,y0 ) (x x0 )m (y y0 )n (2)
m=0,n=0
m!n!

a): Cross average. Since either (x x0 ) or (y y0 ) is zero (while the other one h), the only non-vanishing
2
terms are ones in which either n = 0 or m = 0. Using Fx = x F , F2x = x 2 F etc, it is

h2 h3 h4 h5
F (h, 0) = F (0, 0) + hFx + F2x + F3x + F4x + F5x + h6 C6
2 6 24 120
h2 h3 h4 h5
F (h, 0) = F (0, 0) hFx + F2x F3x + F4x F5x + h6 C6
2 6 24 120
h2 h3 h4 h5
F (0, h) = F (0, 0) + hFy + F2y + F3y + F4y + F5y + h6 C6
2 6 24 120
h2 h3 h4 h5
F (0, h) = F (0, 0) hFy + F2y F3y + F4y F5y + h6 C6
2 6 24 120

and the cross sum evidently is

h4 h4
Sc = 4F (0, 0)+h2 (F2x +F2y )+ (F4x +F4y )+O(h6 ) = 4F (0, 0)+h2 F + (F4x +F4y )+O(h6 ) q.e.d. (3)
12 12

b): Square sum. It is easily seen that due to cancellations in the square sum only terms in Eq. 2 contribute
with both m and n even. Thus, it is:

h2 h4
F (h, h) = F (0, 0) + (F2x + F2y ) + (F4x + F4y + 6F2x2y ) + C6 h6 + ... , (4)
2 24

where the ... stand for terms that cancel when performing the square sum, and C6 for a 6-th order coefficient.
Thus,

h4
Ss = 4F (0, 0) + 2h2 (F2x + F2y ) + (F4x + F4y ) + h4 F2x2y + O(h6 ) . (5)
6
1
Noting that (F ) = F4x + 2F2x2y + F4y , we see that F2x2y = 2 ((F ) F4x F4y ), and the square sum
becomes

h4 h4 h4
Ss = 4F (0, 0) + 2h2 F + (F ) + (F4x + F4y ) + O(h6 ) (6)
2 6 2

h4 h4
Ss = 4F (0, 0) + 2h2 F + (F ) (F4x + F4y ) + O(h6 ) q.e.d. (7)
2 3
Note: An improved average (=sum/4) can be defined as follows:

1 1 3 1
S = Ss + Sc = F (0, 0) + h2 F + h4 (F ) + O(h6 ) . (8)
5 20 10 40

For functions F that are solutions of the Laplace equation all correction terms up to and excluding the O(h6 )
vanish. In a charged space with charge density (x), the expressions

4c 4
F = and (F ) + , (9)
0 0 h2 0 h2

with c being the cross average of the charge density, can be inserted into Eq. 8, yielding an equation that
can be resolved for F (0, 0). This procedure and a consideration of the error in the second equation of Eq. 9
lead to Equation 1.82 in the textbook.