12.8 Boundary Conditions in Electromagnetics 371
12.8 Boundary Conditions in Electromagnetics
12.8.1 Normal Component of the Magnetic Induction
B is Continuous Across the Boundary in a Conductor
From Maxwell’s equation, we know that div
B = 0. From divergence theorem
we can write
div
B.dν =
B.n.ds. =0. (12.108)
Now assuming a small box of area ∆a and thickness ∆l across the bound ary
shown in the Fig. 12.10 we take the integration over the volume with an
approximation
(B
2
.n
2
+B
1
.n
1
)∆a + Contribution from the wall = 0.
Since the contribution from the walls is directly proportional to ∆l, its con-
tribution will be zero when ∆l = 0.
Therefore
B
2
.n
2
+B
i
.n
1
=0.
Since the normal vectors n
2
and n
1
on two opposite sides of the boundary
are in the opposite direction, i.e., n
2
= −n
1
, therefore
(B
2
− B
1
).n=0. (12.109)
In other words the normal components of the magnetic induction will be
continuous across the boundary.
12.8.2 Normal Component of the Electric Displacement
is Continuous Across the Boundary
Since divD = q
ν
,, we can write Gauss’s divergence theorem
v
div
Ddν =
s
D.n.ds. =
v
q
v
dv = q (12.110)
where q is the total charge and q
v
is the volume density of charge. Therefore,
we get as in the previous case (Fig. 12.11)
D
2
.n
2
+
D
1
.n
1
∆a = w∆a (12.111)
where w is the surface density of charge and
q=
v
q
ν
dv = q
ν
.∆l.∆a. (12.112)