- #1
millifarads
- 5
- 0
Homework Statement
[tex]\vec J_b = 3s \hat z [/tex]
[tex]\int \vec J_b \, d\vec a [/tex]
I need to solve this integral in cylindrical coordinates. It's the bound current of an infinite cylinder, with everything done in cylindrical coordinates and s is the radius of the cylinder. The answer should end up with a phi unit vector, but I just don't see how to get the actual unit vector.
Homework Equations
According to a pdf on MIT's site, the area element is:[tex] d \vec a = s d\phi dz \hat s [/tex]
There's a caveat, though, as the page says there's a choice of direction. Using this way makes the most sense to me, but if I use this, the dot product between the s and z unit vectors will cause the whole thing to go to zero.
http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/materials/modules/ReviewB.pdf
I've found another site that says to use the following, but I don't see the reasoning as to where the phi hat unit vector comes from.
[tex] d \vec a = s d\phi \hat z [/tex]
The Attempt at a Solution
[tex]\int \vec J_b \, d\vec a = \int_0^s \int_0^{2\pi} s \hat z \cdot sdsd\phi \hat z = \frac{2 \pi}{3} s^3 \hat \phi [/tex]
Using the first equation for the area element doesn't get me where I need to be, but the second one does.
Any help in figuring this out would be appreciated.