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Inverse Square Law

An inverse square law is a law in physics that relates a quantity to the reciprocal of the square of the distance between them. The quantity is typically an intensity and we may write

The following diagram shows the inverse square law on an intuitive level. The diagram shows that with a source of a certain strength the intensity at a distance of one unit is spread over an area four times larger when the distance from the distance from the source is doubled, following the inverse square law.

Source

If we consider a point source of strength s in three-dimensional space then its effect at a distance r is spread over a sphere1 of surface area , as shown in the following diagram.

Hence the effect of the point source of strength s in the surface of the sphere is , following the inverse square law.

Spheres

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The following graph shows the effect of the source with distance, following the inverse square law.

The inverse square law governs a number of phenomena in physics including radiation, gravitational field, light, sound and electricity.