Methods for calculating the field

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around methods for calculating the electric field of a uniformly charged closed loop (ring) of radius 'r' in all of space. Participants explore various approaches, including integration techniques and theoretical frameworks.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Mathematical reasoning

Main Points Raised

  • One participant suggests the need for spherical integration and trigonometric considerations to find the electric field, emphasizing the complexity of the problem.
  • Another participant proposes using Coulomb's law in polar coordinates to integrate over the circular wire to calculate the electric field.
  • A different approach mentioned involves using Ampere's law to calculate the magnetic field and then deriving the electric field from Maxwell's equations.
  • One participant notes that finding the electric field on the axis of the ring is a standard problem and suggests first calculating the potential, then deriving the electric field as its gradient.
  • Another participant mentions expanding the potential in a power series and relating it to Legendre polynomials for off-axis calculations, indicating a more advanced approach.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express various methods and approaches without reaching a consensus on a single method. Multiple competing views remain regarding the best approach to calculate the electric field.

Contextual Notes

Some methods depend on specific assumptions about the coordinate system and the region of space considered. The discussion includes both standard and advanced techniques, indicating a range of complexity in the proposed solutions.

psuchetic_edition
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hi guys,i wanted to know if any of u have a method for calculatind the electricfield of a uniformly electrified closed loop of radius 'r' over all the space?
 
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You're going to have to be more specific. I'm not 100% clear on what the problem is.
 
Find the electric field of a uniformly charged ring of radius 'r.'

I think it would require spherical integration and some trig (i.e. it's probably going to be long and messy).

First, I would draw a picture. Mine has the ring on the x-y plane centered at the origin.

Next, I would pick a random point on the graph. I drew one off to the side in the upper half of the space. I would then draw a vector from the origin to the point. I call this position vector a. Next, I will draw a position vector from the origin to a point on the ring and call it b. There is a third vector you can draw now, one from the end of b on the ring to the random point (the end of a) Let's call this resultant vector c. Now you should have a triangle.

To find the electric field, you need to first find the potential at that point. To do this, you need to find the contribution from the entire ring. This means you need to integrate along the ring.

The potential due to one small infintesimal portion of the ring is a function of the length of c. To find the length of c, you'll need to do some trig (law of cosines). Since you picked a random point, you'll need to generalize the coordinates. The length of c will undoubtedly be affected by what part of the ring you chose. Therefore, you must integrate your expression around the ring. Then, take the negative gradient to get the electric field.

I can't really go into much detail without actually solving it. Perhaps there's an easier way that someone knows.
 
psuchetic_edition said:
hi guys,i wanted to know if any of u have a method for calculatind the electricfield of a uniformly electrified closed loop of radius 'r' over all the space?

this is the best option:

One can use Coulombs law to calculate the E field, use polar coordinates because you will have to integrate over the closed circular wire.


or
You can use Ampere's law to calculate the magnetic field and from the Maxwell equations, calculate the E field...There are several options

marlon
 
Last edited:
I assume you mean to find the electric field due to a uniformly charged ring of radius R.
On the axis of the ring, that is a standard elementary textbook problem.
It is easier to first find the potential, and then the E field will be the gradient of the potential.

To find the potential off the axis, you first expand it in a power series.
Then the power series can be related to a Legendre polynomial expansion in cos\theta to find the potential off the axis. (I assume this is what you meant by "over all space".) This off-axis problem is done in some advanced texts.
 

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