Spatial derivative of Electric Field in Faraday's Law?

In summary, according to Faraday's Law, Time-Changing magnetic field creates an induced current in a closed conducting loop.
  • #1
sawer
65
2
According to Faraday's Law, Time-Changing magnetic field creates an induced current in a closed conducting loop.

This is the equation: ##\nabla \times \mathbf{E} = -\frac{\partial \mathbf{B}} {\partial t}##

1-) Does this current (##\nabla \times \mathbf{E} ##) have to be an alternate current(sinusoidal current)?

2-) If it is, then it is not just spatial varying current also time varying current. But why does left side of this equation (##\nabla \times \mathbf{E} ##) include spatial derivative of electric field? Can it be written with time derivative of electric field? (I mean time derivative electric field version). So it means time changing magnetic field relates to time changing electric field.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
  • #2
upload_2016-11-3_16-17-18.png

sawer said:
According to Faraday's Law, Time-Changing magnetic field creates an induced current in a closed conducting loop.

This is the equation: ##\nabla \times \mathbf{E} = -\frac{\partial \mathbf{B}} {\partial t}##
Not quite. There is no current in this equation. A time varying magnetic field generates an electric field that has a curl given by the above equation. You can think of electromotive force around loops being related to the time changing magnetic flux through the loop as well (eg the integral form of this equation).

sawer said:
1-) Does this current (##\nabla \times \mathbf{E} ##) have to be an alternate current(sinusoidal current)?
The time variation does not have to be sinusoidal. It can be arbitrary. Again, no current here.

sawer said:
2-) If it is, then it is not just spatial varying current also time varying current. But why does left side of this equation (##\nabla \times \mathbf{E} ##) include spatial derivative of electric field? Can it be written with time derivative of electric field? (I mean time derivative electric field version). So it means time changing magnetic field relates to time changing electric field.
Not sure what you are getting at here. Perhaps if you explicitly include the dependencies of the fields it is more clear,
##\nabla \times \mathbf{E}(\mathbf{r},t) = -\frac{\partial} {\partial t} \mathbf{B}(\mathbf{r},t)##
So this equation does indicate that the temporally changing magnetic field does yield a temporally changing electric field. The time derivative of the electric field is related to the curl of the magnetic field and the current density - the relationship is given in Ampere's Law. In free space (and MKS units) it is,
## \nabla \times \mathbf{B} = \mu_0 \mathbf{J} + \frac{1}{c^2} \frac{\partial}{\partial t} \mathbf{E} ##.
Here [itex]\mathbf{J}[/itex] is the current density.

Jason
 
  • #3
jasonRF said:
Not quite. There is no current in this equation.
If there is a conducting loop, doesn't a current appear?
jasonRF said:
##\nabla \times \mathbf{E}(\mathbf{r},t) = -\frac{\partial} {\partial t} \mathbf{B}(\mathbf{r},t)##
So this equation does indicate that the temporally changing magnetic field does yield a temporally changing electric field.
This equation indicates that the temporally changing magnetic field does yield a "spatially" changing electric field. Right?
I am asking if this spatially changing electric field is also temporally changing, then can we write left side of this equation a time derivative version of the electric field? Would it be wrong?

Thanks...
 
  • #4
sawer said:
If there is a conducting loop, doesn't a current appear?
Yes, a current appears in a conducting loop. Sorry for my mistake there. But please note that [itex]\nabla \times \mathbf{E}[/itex] is not a current.

sawer said:
This equation indicates that the temporally changing magnetic field does yield a "spatially" changing electric field. Right?
If the right hand side of the equation is changing with time, then so is the left hand side. As an example, consider the fields,
[tex] \mathbf{B} = \mathbf{\hat{z}} B_0 \sin (\omega t) [/tex]
[tex] \mathbf{E} = (y\mathbf{\hat{x}}- x\mathbf{\hat{y}})\frac{ B_0 \omega }{2} \cos (\omega t) [/tex]
for [itex]B_0[/itex] a constant. These two fields are consistent with,
[tex] \nabla \times \mathbf{E}(\mathbf{r},t) = -\frac{\partial} {\partial t} \mathbf{B}(\mathbf{r},t)[/tex].
I would say both the electric and magnetic fields are varying with time, and yes, the electric field varies with position. The magnetic field is spatially uniform in this example.

sawer said:
I am asking if this spatially changing electric field is also temporally changing, then can we write left side of this equation a time derivative version of the electric field? Would it be wrong?
Thanks...
Yes, the spatially changing electric field would usually be temporally changing, as shown above. One exception would be if you have a case where [itex]\partial \mathbf{B}/\partial t = \mathbf{F}(\mathbf{r})[/itex] so is not a function of time.

No, you cannot in general write the left side as a time derivative of the electric field. There are only three types of derivatives of the electric field that we would need, and all of them are given to us in maxwell's equations. In free space they are,
[tex] \nabla \times \mathbf{E} = -\frac{\partial} {\partial t} \mathbf{B}[/tex].
[tex] \nabla \cdot \mathbf{E} = \rho /\epsilon_0[/tex]
[tex] \frac{\partial} {\partial t} \mathbf{E} = c^2 \nabla \times \mathbf{B} - \mathbf{J}/\epsilon_0 [/tex]

Hope that helps.

Jason
 

Related to Spatial derivative of Electric Field in Faraday's Law?

1. What is the spatial derivative of electric field in Faraday's Law?

The spatial derivative of electric field in Faraday's Law refers to the change in electric field over a specific distance in space. It is a mathematical concept used to calculate the rate of change of electric field in a given direction.

2. How is the spatial derivative of electric field calculated in Faraday's Law?

The spatial derivative of electric field is calculated by taking the partial derivative of the electric field with respect to the spatial coordinates (x, y, z) at a specific point in space.

3. What does the spatial derivative of electric field tell us about Faraday's Law?

The spatial derivative of electric field helps us understand how the electric field changes over a specific distance in space, which is a key component of Faraday's Law. It tells us the rate at which the electric field is changing in a particular direction.

4. How is the spatial derivative of electric field related to electromagnetic induction?

The spatial derivative of electric field is directly related to electromagnetic induction, as it is a crucial component of Faraday's Law of induction. The change in electric field over a specific distance in space is what creates the induced electric field, leading to the phenomenon of electromagnetic induction.

5. Can the spatial derivative of electric field in Faraday's Law be negative?

Yes, the spatial derivative of electric field can be negative in Faraday's Law. This indicates that the electric field is decreasing over a specific distance in space, which can happen when there is a decrease in the magnetic field or a change in the orientation of the magnetic field with respect to the surface being considered.

Similar threads

Replies
4
Views
1K
Replies
15
Views
1K
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
11
Views
2K
  • Electromagnetism
Replies
6
Views
893
  • Electromagnetism
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • Electromagnetism
Replies
2
Views
688
Replies
3
Views
967
Replies
2
Views
831
Replies
25
Views
1K
Back
Top