I've been studying electric fields in class for some time and one thing is seemingly contradictory and really confuses me.
The charge density ρ is related to the electric field E and the permiativity ε and the potential [itex]\Phi[/itex] by the following equation
ρ/ε=∇[itex]\cdot[/itex]E=-∇2[itex]\Phi[/itex]
if we examine the electric field created by a single point charge of magnitude q located at the origin, then the electrostatic potential can be expressed as follows
[itex]\Phi[/itex]=[itex]\frac{q}{4πε(x^2+y^2+z^2)}[/itex]
now I would expect the charge density in this system to be zero everywhere except the origin but if we take the laplacean of this electric field, instead we get
ρ/ε=-∇2[itex]\Phi[/itex]=[itex]\frac{2q}{4πε(x^2+y^2+z^2)^2}[/itex]
which is clearly non-zero.
is there an explanation for this discrepancy? Have I violated some fundamental assumption?
thanks in advance
The charge density ρ is related to the electric field E and the permiativity ε and the potential [itex]\Phi[/itex] by the following equation
ρ/ε=∇[itex]\cdot[/itex]E=-∇2[itex]\Phi[/itex]
if we examine the electric field created by a single point charge of magnitude q located at the origin, then the electrostatic potential can be expressed as follows
[itex]\Phi[/itex]=[itex]\frac{q}{4πε(x^2+y^2+z^2)}[/itex]
now I would expect the charge density in this system to be zero everywhere except the origin but if we take the laplacean of this electric field, instead we get
ρ/ε=-∇2[itex]\Phi[/itex]=[itex]\frac{2q}{4πε(x^2+y^2+z^2)^2}[/itex]
which is clearly non-zero.
is there an explanation for this discrepancy? Have I violated some fundamental assumption?
thanks in advance