Electric Fields and Forces due to Charged Dielectrics

Abstract

The electric fields of a sheet of charged dielectric positioned between two parallel metal electrodes are calculated assuming the presence of gaps between dielectric and both electrodes. The charge distribution within the dielectric is assumed to consist of a quasipermanent space charge and a quasipermanent dipole polarization, both being arbitrary functions of the coordinate normal to the electrodes and slowly varying functions of the other coordinates. The plane of zero field in the dielectric and the forces on the electrodes and on the dielectric are also calculated.