Gauss’s Law

Gauss’s Law

1. Particle Dynamics in the Presence of Electric Fields

   • Let’s say that a charged particle is inside of a box and you want to know its magnitude.
     • Since the electric field only interacts with other electric fields, it would be necessary to use a test charge.
       • If you put a test charge +q0 outside the box, you can calculate the electric field.
         • When the test charge is moved at different positions out of the box, forces can be calculated and an electric field map can be obtained.
           • The direction of the flow of the electric field can be determined by the sign of the charge

2. Electric Flux

   • the electric flux is the electric field lines passing through a given area.
     • some authors like Sears and Semanzky, use the analogy of water passing through a given cross sectional area.
       • Where the water represents the electric field.

3. Where the water represents the electric field.

   • Gauss’s law is used to calculate the electric field and it’s an alternative to Coulomb’s Law
     • “The total electric flux through any closed surface is equal to the total (net) electric charge enclosed by the surface, divided by ”
       • thanks to Gauss’ law is easier to calculate the electric field of symmetrical charged objects.