Introduction

Introduction

• In earlier chapters, the  in the given region are obtained using Coulomb's law and Gauss's law. Using these laws is easy, if the charge distribution or potential throughout the region is known. Practically it is not possible in many situations, to know the charge distribution or potential variation throughout the region. Practically charge and potential may be known at some boundaries of the region, only. From those values it is necessary to obtain potential and  throughout the region. Such electrostatic problems are called boundary value problems. To solve such problems, Poisson's and Laplace's equations must be known. This chapter derives the Poisson's and Laplace's equations and explains its use in few practical situations.