Thursday 4 April 2013

Electric Field due to a Uniform Sphere of Charge

Electric Field due to a Uniform Sphere of Charge

Consider a uniform spherical charge distribution in which a charge Q is uniformly distributed over the volume of a sphere of radius R.

The volumetric charge density is given by,

 (as the distribution of charge is uniform)


Case 1: Field outside the sphere (radial distance > R).
The field has spherical symmetry



By Gauss's law, 



[Note that the result is same as that of a point charge]




Case 2: Field inside the sphere (radial distance < R).

Consider a Gaussian sphere inside the sphere of charge.

Q  = total charge of sphere

Q' = charge enclosed by the Gaussian sphere



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