02 Chapter Map — Electrostatics & Boundary Conditions

What this chapter covers

The two fundamental postulates, Coulomb’s law and continuous charge distributions, Gauss’s law and its symmetric applications, electric potential and the dipole derivations, conductors and dielectric polarization, boundary conditions and the refraction law, Poisson’s and Laplace’s equations with all capacitance derivations, and electrostatic energy. This is the heaviest-weighted chapter in the paper.

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📚 Study Notes Index (read in this order)

#	Note	What it gives you	PYQ weight
1	2.01 Fundamental Postulates of Electrostatics & Gauss_s Law Applications	Two postulates + derivations, Coulomb’s law, Gauss’s law applications (sheet, line, charge cloud)	Very high — 2015–2025, nearly every year
2	2.02 Electric Potential, Equipotential Contours & Dipole Derivations	$V$, $\vec{E}=-\nabla V$, $\vec{E}$ vs $\vec{D}$, equipotential sketches, full dipole derivations	Very high — 2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025
3	2.03 Conductors, Dielectrics & Polarization Charge Densities	Five conductor properties, polarization, bound charges, $\vec{D}={ϵ}_0\vec{E}+\vec{P}$	High — 2016, 2019, 2020, 2021
4	2.04 Electrostatic Boundary Conditions, Refraction Law & Poisson-Laplace Equations	Boundary conditions, refraction law + numerical, Poisson/Laplace, parallel-plate & cylindrical capacitance, EHD pump	Very high — 2015–2025
5	2.05 Electrostatic Energy, Work Done & Solved PYQ Numericals	Energy to assemble $n$ charges, energy density, and every Ch. 2 numerical solved	Very high — 2016–2025
✅	00 Chapter 2 Active-Recall Diagnostic Quiz	Test yourself before and after	—

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🎯 Highest-Yield Items in This Chapter

Concept	Years asked	Where
Fundamental postulates (both forms + significance)	2015, 2016, 2017, 2020, 2022, 2025	2.01 Fundamental Postulates of Electrostatics & Gauss_s Law Applications
Parallel-plate capacitance / surface charge density	2016, 2018, 2019, 2021, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025	2.04 Electrostatic Boundary Conditions, Refraction Law & Poisson-Laplace Equations
Electrostatic energy to assemble $n$ charges	2018, 2022, 2023, 2024, 2025	2.05 Electrostatic Energy, Work Done & Solved PYQ Numericals
Electric dipole potential / field derivation	2016, 2017, 2019, 2021, 2023, 2024	2.02 Electric Potential, Equipotential Contours & Dipole Derivations
Poisson’s equation derivation (+ its solution)	2015, 2016, 2017, 2022, 2023, 2025	2.04 Electrostatic Boundary Conditions, Refraction Law & Poisson-Laplace Equations
Dielectric boundary conditions + refraction numerical	2015, 2017, 2019, 2022, 2025	2.04 Electrostatic Boundary Conditions, Refraction Law & Poisson-Laplace Equations
Uniformly charged cloud (zero at centre / linear / inverse / max at surface)	2018, 2019, 2020, 2022	2.01 Fundamental Postulates of Electrostatics & Gauss_s Law Applications
$\vec{D}={ϵ}_0\vec{E}+\vec{P}$	2016, 2019, 2021	2.03 Conductors, Dielectrics & Polarization Charge Densities
Gauss’s law + sheet / line charge	2015, 2016, 2023	2.01 Fundamental Postulates of Electrostatics & Gauss_s Law Applications
Energy stored in 4 point charges (numerical)	2019, 2020, 2023	2.05 Electrostatic Energy, Work Done & Solved PYQ Numericals
$\vec{E}$ vs $\vec{D}$ distinction	2022, 2025	2.02 Electric Potential, Equipotential Contours & Dipole Derivations
Conductor–free-space boundary components	2016, 2020	2.03 Conductors, Dielectrics & Polarization Charge Densities
Cylindrical capacitor	2015, 2017	2.04 Electrostatic Boundary Conditions, Refraction Law & Poisson-Laplace Equations

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🔗 Logical Flow of the Chapter

graph TD
    P["Two postulates: ∇·D = ρv and ∇×E = 0"] --> G["Gauss's law applications"]
    P --> V["Scalar potential V exists, E = −∇V"]
    V --> DIP["Electric dipole V and E"]
    DIP --> POL["Dielectric polarization P"]
    POL --> D["D = ε0E + P"]
    D --> BC["Boundary conditions + refraction law"]
    V --> PL["Poisson / Laplace equations"]
    PL --> CAP["Capacitance: parallel plate, cylindrical, EHD pump"]
    CAP --> EN["Electrostatic energy and energy density"]

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🔗 Related Resources

• Course teaching plan: ECE 2105 - Electromagnetic Fields and Waves
• Full checklist with PYQ years: field checklist
• Verbatim question bank: ece 2105 field pyq
• Previous chapter: 01 Chapter Map - Vector Calculus & Fundamentals
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