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Lecture Notes On Electrodynamics

Maxwell's Equations describe the fundamentals of electromagnetism and how electric and magnetic fields interact and propagate. They consist of 4 differential equations that show how electric charges and currents generate electric and magnetic fields, and how changing electric and magnetic fields in turn generate each other. Maxwell's equations unified electricity, magnetism, and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon - electromagnetic waves that propagate at the speed of light.

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553 views3 pages

Lecture Notes On Electrodynamics

Maxwell's Equations describe the fundamentals of electromagnetism and how electric and magnetic fields interact and propagate. They consist of 4 differential equations that show how electric charges and currents generate electric and magnetic fields, and how changing electric and magnetic fields in turn generate each other. Maxwell's equations unified electricity, magnetism, and light as different manifestations of the same phenomenon - electromagnetic waves that propagate at the speed of light.

Uploaded by

ahmeday22man
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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Lecture Notes on Electrodynamics

Maxwell's Equations are a set of 4 differential equations that describe


the basics of electromagnetism. These equations describe how electric
and magnetic fields propagate, interact, and how they are influenced
by objects.
Maxwell equation in differential form
∇. 𝑬 = 𝜌/𝜺° Gauss law for electricity (1)
 The electric charges create diverging electric fields

 ∇×E = 0 Irrotational Electric Fields when Static.


 This means that if everything is static, then the electric fields have
no curl.
∇. 𝑩 = 0 Gauss law for magnetism (2)
No Magnetic Monopoles
𝜕𝑩
∇×𝑬=− Faraday law for induction (3)
𝜕𝑡

 A Magnetic Field Changing in Time gives rise to an E-field


circulating around it.
 A circulating E-field in time gives rise to a Magnetic Field
Changing in time.
 Faraday’s Law is very powerful as it shows how much the
universe loves symmetry.
𝜕𝑬
∇ × 𝑩 = 𝜇° 𝑱 + 𝜇° 𝜺 ° Modified Maxwell-Ampere law (4)
𝜕𝑡

 A flowing electric current (J) gives rise to a Magnetic Field that


circles the current.
 A time-changing Electric field (E) gives rise to a Magnetic Field
that circles the E - field
Ampere's Law with the contribution of Maxwell nailed down the basis for
Electromagnetics as we currently understand it. And so we know that a
time varying E gives rise to a B field, but from Faraday’s Law we know
that a varying B field gives rise to an E field.... and so on and so forth and
the electromagnetic waves propagate - and that's cool.
Poisson equation for electric charge density distribution:
ρ
∇2 V =
εo
 In free space 

∇2 V = 0 𝐿𝑎𝑏𝑙𝑎𝑐𝑖𝑎𝑛 𝑒𝑞𝑢𝑎𝑡𝑖𝑜𝑛
Continuity equation for charge conservation:
𝜕𝜌
∇. J = −
𝜕𝑡
Wave equations for electric field and magnetic field in free space:

2
∂2 𝐄
∇ 𝐄 = μ° ε° + 2
∂t

2
∂2 𝐁
∇ 𝐁 = μ° ε° + 2
∂t
Electromagnetic wave velocity in free space:
1
v=
=c
√μ° ε°
 All electromagnetic waves travel at the same speed (the speed of
light)!
The ratio between electric field and magnetic field:
At every instant the ratio of magnitude of electric field to the magnitude
of magnetic field in an electromagnetic wave equals the speed of light.
𝐸
=𝑐
𝐵

This comes from the solution of the partial differentials obtained from
Maxwell’s equations.

Conceptual Questions:

a) What is displacement current due to?

b) Is the steady electric current the only source of magnetic field?

Justify your answer.

c) What feature of electromagnetic waves led Maxwell to conclude

that light itself is an electromagnetic wave?

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