Did I Calculate the Correct Derivative to Validate Faraday's Law?

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Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around validating Faraday's Law through the calculation of derivatives related to magnetic and electric fields. The original poster is focused on the negative time derivative of the magnetic field and its relationship to the curl of the electric field.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • The original poster attempts to calculate the negative time derivative of the magnetic field and is questioning the relationship between this derivative and the curl of the electric field. They express uncertainty about how the curl interacts with the components of the sine function. Another participant suggests a warmup exercise related to derivatives to aid understanding.

Discussion Status

The discussion is active, with participants engaging in calculations and providing feedback. One participant has noted a helpful correction regarding the signs in the calculations, which led to further progress in solving the problem.

Contextual Notes

There is an indication that the original poster may have made a mistake in their calculations, particularly regarding the signs in their derivative, which is under discussion. The complexity of the curl operation and its implications for the sine function are also being examined.

Blanchdog
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Homework Statement
Suppose that an electric field is given by ##E(r, t) = E_0 \text{cos}(k \cdot r - \omega t + \phi) ##, where ##k \perp E_0## and ##\phi## is a constant phase. Show that
$$B(r, t) = \frac{k~\text{x}~E_0}{\omega} \text{cos}((k \cdot r - \omega t + \phi)$$ is consistent with Faraday's Law.
Relevant Equations
Faradays Law: $$\nabla~\text x~E = -\frac{\partial B}{\partial t}$$
I've calculated the negative time derivative of B(r, t) as: $$-\frac{\partial B}{\partial t} = k~\text x~E_0~\text{sin}(k \cdot r - \omega t + \phi)$$ The cross product can be easily expanded, I'd just rather not do the LaTeX for if I can avoid it.

The Curl of the electric field (##\nabla~\text{x}~ E##) is giving more trouble though. I should end up with a sine wave (or a cosine offset by pi/2) but as best I can tell the curl doesn't affect the stuff within the cosine at all since k and r are dotted together into a scalar. How do I show that the curl of the electric field is equal to the result of the negative time derivative of of the magnetic field above, or did I make a mistake in calculating that derivative?
 
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Blanchdog said:
as best I can tell the curl doesn't affect the stuff within the cosine at all
As a warmup exercise, calculate ##\frac{\partial}{\partial x} (\mathbf k \cdot \mathbf r)##.
 
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Blanchdog said:
I've calculated the negative time derivative of B(r, t) as: $$-\frac{\partial B}{\partial t} = k~\text x~E_0~\text{sin}(k \cdot r - \omega t + \phi)$$
Check the signs
 
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That was very helpful, I was able to solve it once I fixed the sign of the sine and saw the pattern of the derivatives I was able to do after your warm up.
 
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