Solving the Laplace Equation for a Capacitor Setup

hectoryx
Messages
13
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement




The capacitor is assumed to consist of two parallel circular disc electrodes of radius R. The electrodes are of infinite small thickness, placed a distance 2H apart, and are equally and oppositely charged to potentials +U and -U. A metal cylinder is placed near the two electrodes and the position relationship can be found in the following picture:

http://i1021.photobucket.com/albums/af335/hectoryx/professional/1.jpg


Homework Equations



To solve the potential distribution in this situation, the Laplace Equation in cylindrical coordinate system is:

\[{\nabla ^2}\phi = \frac{1}{r}\frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial r}} + \frac{{{\partial ^2}\phi }}{{\partial {r^2}}} + \frac{{{\partial ^2}\phi }}{{\partial {z^2}}} = 0\]

The Attempt at a Solution



I am not sure about its boundary condition:

\[\left\{ {\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {\phi = + {\rm{U}},\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {} &amp; {{\rm{z}} = {\rm{H}}} \\<br /> \end{array},0 \le r \le {\rm{R }}} \\<br /> {\phi = - {\rm{U}},\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {} &amp; {{\rm{z}} = - {\rm{H}}} \\<br /> \end{array},0 \le r \le {\rm{R}}} \\<br /> \end{array}} \right.\]

and

\[\begin{array}{l}<br /> \phi = {\phi _c},\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {} &amp; {{\rm{H}} + {\rm{d}} \le {\rm{z}} \le {\rm{H}}} \\<br /> \end{array} + {\rm{d}} + {\rm{L}},0 \le r \le {\rm{R}} \\ <br /> \frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial z}} = {\sigma _1},\frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial r}} = 0,\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {} &amp; {{\rm{z}} = {\rm{H}} + {\rm{d}}} \\<br /> \end{array},0 \le r \le {\rm{R}} \\ <br /> \frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial z}} = {\sigma _2},\frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial r}} = 0,\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {} &amp; {{\rm{z}} = {\rm{H}} + {\rm{d}}} \\<br /> \end{array} + {\rm{L}},0 \le r \le {\rm{R}} \\ <br /> \frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial z}} = 0,\frac{{\partial \phi }}{{\partial r}} = {\sigma _3},\begin{array}{*{20}{c}}<br /> {} &amp; {{\rm{H}} + {\rm{d}} \le {\rm{z}} \le {\rm{H}}} \\<br /> \end{array} + {\rm{d}} + {\rm{L}},r = {\rm{R}} \\ <br /> \end{array}\]<br />


Could anyone give me some help and tell me that whether the boundary conditions above are right?

Thanks very much!

Best Regards.

Hector
 
Physics news on Phys.org


chould anyone help me please? Really thanks!
 
To solve this, I first used the units to work out that a= m* a/m, i.e. t=z/λ. This would allow you to determine the time duration within an interval section by section and then add this to the previous ones to obtain the age of the respective layer. However, this would require a constant thickness per year for each interval. However, since this is most likely not the case, my next consideration was that the age must be the integral of a 1/λ(z) function, which I cannot model.
Back
Top