Dielectrics

This chapter focuses on the polarization of dielectrics, the effects of dielectrics on the electric field, the field equations, and the energy. Faraday observed that, if a capacitor is maintained under a constant potential and is filled with a dielectric, its charge is multiplied by a factor, which is a characteristic quantity of the dielectric called relative electric permittivity. On the contrary to the conduction charges, the polarization charges are completely bound to the molecules of the dielectric. The chapter discusses Gauss’s law in the case of dielectrics and electric displacement. The electrostatic phenomena in the presence of dielectrics are specified by two fields: the electric field and the electric displacement. It then focuses on polarization of a dielectric in an external field, and energy and force in dielectrics. The chapter describes the electric susceptibility, permittivity and variation of polarization with temperature. Controlled Vocabulary Terms dielectric polarisation; electrical conductivity; Faraday effect; permittivity