Thread: Electric field between charged parallell metal plates

Hi!
Usually one makes the approximation that the electric field between charged parallell metal plates is homogenous, and that its strength is given by E=U/d, where U is the voltage between the plates and d is the distance between them.

However, I would like to know what the field strength really is, in my case between two charged circular plates. That is, how does the field strength between two charged parallell circular plates depend on the voltage, the distance between the plates and the position?

Thanks in advance!

agree with u :-D

Originally Posted by thyristor

Hi!
Usually one makes the approximation that the electric field between charged parallell metal plates is homogenous, and that its strength is given by E=U/d, where U is the voltage between the plates and d is the distance between them.

However, I would like to know what the field strength really is, in my case between two charged circular plates. That is, how does the field strength between two charged parallell circular plates depend on the voltage, the distance between the plates and the position?

Thanks in advance!

If you are looking for an accurate solution that includes "edge effects" I think that you will need a numerical solution. The answer will vary with diameter and separation. I doubt that a closed form solution exists.

Maxwell's equations are actually fairly complex. The solutions that you see in textbooks take advantage of a lot of symmetry and simplifying assumptions. Exact solutions are relatively rare.