Home Assignment: 5

Department of Physics IISER Bhopal

Electromagnetism ( PHY-102)

Submission date: None

Duration:..... 100 Marks

Instructions

Answer all the questions

1. Show that the energy of ideal dipole in an electric field is given by U = −p · E.

2. In Figure, p1 and p2 are (perfect) dipoles a distance r apart. What is the torque on p1 due to p2 ?
What is the torque on p2 due to p1 ? In each case, I want the torque on the dipole about its own
center.

3. A dipole p is a distance r from a point charge q, and oriented so that p makes an angle θ with the
vector r from q to p.
a) what is force on the dipole ?
b) what is force on the charge q ?

4. According to quantum mechanics, the electron cloud for a hydrogen atom in the ground state has a
charge density,
q
ρ(r) = 3 e−2r/a
πa
where q is the charge of the electron and a is the Bohr radius. Find the atomic polarizability of such
an atom. First calculate the electric field of the electron cloud, Ee (r); then expand the exponetial,
assuming r << a.

5. Find the electric field produced by a uniformly polarized sphere of radius R.

6. When you polarize a neutral dielectric, charge moves a bit, but the total remains zero. This fact
should be reflected in the bound charges σb and ρb . Prove the total bound charge vanishes.

7. A sphere of radius R carries a polarization

P~ (r) = k~r,

where k is a constant and ~r is the vector from the center.

(a) Calculate the bound charges σb and ρb .
(b) Find the field inside and outside the sphere.

8. A metal sphere of radius a carries a charge Q. It is surrounded, out to radius b, by a linear dielectric
material of permittivity . Find the potential at the center (relative to infinity).

1
 9. A thick spherical shell (inner radius a, outer radius b) is made of dielectric material with a ”frozen-in”
polarization P (r) = kr r̂, where k is a constant and r is the distance from the center. (There is no free
charge in the problem.) Find the electric field in all three regions:

10. A dielectric cube of side a, centered at the origin, carries a ”frozen-in” polarization P~ (r) = k~r, where
k is a constant. Find all the bound charges, and check that they add up to zero.