5CCYB010 Tutorial 8
Electromagnetism Tutorial 8
Q1. Spherical Polar Coordinates
(a) Write point (x,y,z) = (√3,-√3, √2) in spherical coordinates
(b) In Cartesian coordinates, surfaces of constant x, y or z are simply planes oriented
orthogonally to those axes. Sketch surfaces of constant r, constant θ and constant
ϕ in spherical coordinates.
What happens at the intersection of such surfaces?
(c) Function F is written in spherical coordinates as:
Integrate F2 over the surface of a sphere of radius R.
Q2.
z
Biot-Savart law:
dl r
y
x
Use the Biot-Savart law to derive an expression for the B field from current
element Idl orientated along the z-axis, at an arbitrary position r in spherical polar
coordinates. Show that the resulting fields are the same as those derived from the
Hertzian dipole if the oscillation frequency is zero.
Hint 1: You may wish to use the expression 𝒓 = 𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙 𝒆𝒙 + 𝑟 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜃 𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙 𝒆𝒚 +
𝑟 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜃 𝒆𝒛 for r in Cartesian coordinates, in order to evaluate the vector product.
Hint 2: The unit vector in the azimuthal direction can be expressed in Cartesian
coordinates as 𝒆𝝓 = −𝑠𝑖𝑛𝜙𝒆𝒙 + 𝑐𝑜𝑠𝜙 𝒆𝒚
5CCYB010 Tutorial 8
Q3. Derive the expressions for the E field from the Hertzian dipole (equations 8.36-
8.38) using either of the two methods outlined in the lecture notes, showing all of
your workings.
You may find the following vector identities useful:
Curl of curl:
Gradient of scalar function f in spherical coordinates:
Divergence of vector field F in spherical coordinates:
Curl of vector field F in spherical coordinates:
5CCYB010 Tutorial 8
Q4.
Vertically
oriented antenna
100m
1km
A vertically oriented antenna is mounted on a 100m tower. In lectures we derived
expressions for E and B fields radiated from different types of antenna excluding
the presence of the ground. However in practice the ground has a significant
effect.
Aside from ignoring the ground, at the other extreme we can model it as an
infinite conducting plane. Doing so we can then use the method of images to
correct our calculation:
Vertically
oriented dipole
oriented in +z
direction
h
Ground
Image dipole
(a) If the dipole is oriented in the +z direction as shown above, is the image dipole
oriented in +z or –z? Why?
i. What happens very close to the ground?
5CCYB010 Tutorial 8
ii. What will be the effect for locations above the ground (describe
qualitatively)?
(b) If the dipole were oriented in +x instead, would the orientation of the image be
i. +x or –x?
ii. What would the effect be on the fields produced by the dipole for locations
close to the ground?
(c) For the case of a vertically oriented Hertzian dipole antenna at height h above the
ground, find an expression for the magnitude of the electric field on the ground at
a position of distance h away from the point directly beneath the antenna.
Q5. The far-field electric field produced by a particular type of antenna may be
written in spherical polar coordinates as:
𝐴 𝜑
𝐸𝜃 = sin 𝜃 cos2 ( ⁄2) cos(𝜔𝑡 − 𝑘𝑟)
𝑟
where A is a constant, all other components of E are zero. The antenna is at the
origin of the coordinate system and φ=0 corresponds to North.
Ignoring the presence of the ground and assuming the altitude of the antenna is
zero:
(a) What is the relative difference in peak electric field strength at a distance of
1km North compared with 1km East of the antenna?
(b) A helicopter is hovering at an altitude of 1km, also 1km North of the antenna.
What is the relative peak electric field strength compared with that on the
ground beneath the helicopter?
(c) A second antenna is placed 1km to the North, and oriented in the same way.
Why will this second antenna be unable to detect signals from the first one?
