When an electric field passes from one homogeneous medium to another, crossing the boundary between the two mediums imparts a discontinuity in the electric field. This results in electrostatic boundary conditions that depend on the type of mediums the field propagates through.
Consider a case where both the mediums across a boundary are two different dielectric materials. Recall that the electric field and electric displacement are proportional and related through the material's...

Consider an external electric field propagating through a homogeneous medium. When the electric field crosses the surface boundary of the medium, it undergoes a discontinuity. The electric field can be resolved into normal and tangential components. The amount by which the field changes at any boundary is given by the difference between the field components above and below the surface boundary.
The surface integral of an electric field is given by Gauss's law in integral form and is related to...

Gauss's law states that the electric flux through any closed surface equals the net charge enclosed within the surface. This law is beneficial for determining the expressions for the electric field for a particular charge distribution if the electric flux is known.
Consider a non-uniformly charged sphere, for which the density of charge depends only on the distance from a point in space and not on the direction. Such a sphere has a spherically symmetrical charge distribution. Here, the electric...

Atoms generally contain the same number of positively and negatively charged particles, protons, and electrons. Hence, they are electrically neutral. However, the centers of the positive and negative charges do not always coincide. In such a scenario, the electric field of an atom may not be zero.
A separation of the positive and negative charges can lead to a weak, remnant effect of the positive and negative charges. The expectation is that the more the distance between the positive and...

Gauss's law helps determine electric fields even though the law is not directly about electric fields but electric flux. In situations with certain symmetries (spherical, cylindrical, or planar) in the charge distribution, the electric field can be deduced based on the knowledge of the electric flux. In these systems, we can find a Gaussian surface S over which the electric field has a constant magnitude. Furthermore, suppose the electric field is parallel (or antiparallel) to the area...

When an object is in equilibrium, it is either at rest or moving with a constant velocity. There are two types of equilibrium: static and dynamic. Static equilibrium occurs when an object is at rest, while dynamic equilibrium occurs when an object is moving with a constant velocity. In both cases, there must be a balance of forces acting on the object.
To understand the concept of equilibrium, let us first consider the forces acting on an object. When different forces act on an object, they can...