ELECTROSTATICS

Gausss Law and Applications

Though Coulombs law is fundamental, one nds it cumbersome to use it to calculate electric eld due to a continuous charge distribution because the integrals
involved can be quite difcult. An alternative but completely equivalent formulation is Gausss Law which is very useful in situations which exhibit certain symmetry.
Electric Lines of Force :
Electric lines of force (also known as eld lines) is a pictorial representation of the
electric eld. These consist of directed lines indicating the direction of electric
eld at various points in space.
There is no rule as to how many lines are to be shown. However, it is
customary to draw number of lines proportional to the charge. Thus if N
number of lines are drawn from or into a charge Q, 2N number of lines
would be drawn for charge 2Q.
The electric eld at a point is directed along the tangent to the eld lines.
A positive charge at this point will move along the tangent in a direction
indicated by the arrow.
Lines are dense close to a source of the electric eld and become sparse as
one moves away.
Lines originate from a positive charge and end either on a negative charge
or move to innity.

 Lines of force due to a solitary negative charge is assumed to start at innity

and end at the negative charge.
Field lines do not cross each other. ( if they did, the eld at the point of
crossing will not be uniquely dened.)
A neutral point is a point at which eld strength is zero. This occurs because
of cancellation of electric eld at such a point due to multiple charges.
Exercise : Draw eld lines and show the neutral point for a charge +4Q located
at (1, 0) and Q located at (1, 0).
2.3 Electric Flux

The concept of ux is borrowed from ow of water through a surface. The amount

of water owing through a surface depends on the velocity of water, the area of the
surface and the orientation of the surface with respect to the direction of velocity
of water.
Though an area is generally considered as a scalar, an element of area may be
considered to be a vector because :
It has magnitude (measured in m2 ).
If the area is innitisimally small, it can be considered to be in a plane. We
can then associate a direction with it. For instance, if the area element lies
in the x-y plane, it can be considered to be directed along the zdirection.
(Conventionally, the direction of the area is taken to be along the outward
normal.)
2

In the gure above, the length of the vector S is chosen to represent the area
in some convenient unit and its direction is taken to be along the outward
normal to the area.
We dene the ux of the electric eld through an area dS to be given by the scalar
product
d = E dS
If is the angle between the electric eld and the area vector
d =| E || dS | cos
. For an arbitrary surface S, the ux is obtainted by integrating over all the surface
elements
= d =
E dS
S

If the electric eld is uniform, the angle is constant and we have

= ES cos = E(S cos )
Thus the ux is equal to the product of magnitude of the electric eld and the
projection of area perpendicular to the eld.

E
S

Unit of ux is N-m2 /C. Flux is positive if the eld lines come out of the surface
and is negative if they go into it.
Solid Angle :
The concept of solid angle is a natural extension of a plane angle to three dimensions. Consider an area element dS at a distance r from a point P. Let n be the

unit vector along the outward normal to dS.

^
The element of the solid angle subn
tended by the area element at P is de^
ned as

r
dS
d = 2
r
where dS is the projection of dS
dS
along a direction perpendicular to r.
If is the angle between r and n,

then,
dS cos
d =
P
d
r2
Solid angle is dimensionless. However, for practical reasons it is measured in
terms of a unit called steradian (much like the way a planar angle is measured in
terms of degrees).
The maximum possible value of solid angle is 4, which is the angle subtended
by an area which encloses the point P completely.
Example 1:
A right circular cone has a semi-vertical angle . Calculate the solid angle at the
apex P of the cone.
Solution :
The cap on the cone is a part of a sphere of radius R, the slant length of the cone.
Using spherical polar coordinates, an area element on the cap is R2 sin dd,
where is the polar angle and is the azimuthal angle. Here, goes from 0 to 2
4

while goes from 0 to .

Thus the area of the cap is

dA = 2R

sin d
0

= 2R2 (1 cos )
Thus the solid angle at P is

R
dA
d = 2 = 2(1 cos )
R
Exercise :
Calculate the solid angle subtended by an octant of a sphere at the centre of the
sphere.
(Ans. /2)
The ux per unit solid angle is known as the intensity.
Example 2
An wedge in the shape of a rectangular box is kept on a horizontal oor. The
two triangular faces and the rectangular face ABFE are in the vertical plane. The
electric eld is horizontal, has a magnitude 8 104 N/C and enters the wedge
through the face ABFE, as shown. Calculate the ux through each of the faces
and through the entire surface of the wedge.
0.2m
A

0.3m

111111111111
000000000000
111111111111
000000000000
111111111111
000000000000
111111111111
000000000000
111111111111
000000000000
111111111111
000000000000
111111111111
000000000000
F

E
C

0.4 m

Solution :
The outward normals to the triangular faces AED, BFC, as well as the normal to
the base are perpendicular to E. Hence the ux through each of these faces is zero.
The vertical rectangular face ABFE has an area 0.06 m 2 . The outward normal to
this face is perpendicular to the electric eld. The ux is entering through this
5

face and is negative. Thus ux through ABFE is

1 = 0.06 8 104 = .48 104 N m2 /C
To nd the ux through the slanted face, we need the angle that the normal to this
face makes with the horizontal electric eld. Since the electric eld is perpendicular to the side ABFE, this angle is equal to the angle between AE and AD,
which is cos1 (.3/.5). The area of the slanted face ABCD is 0.1 m2 . Thus the
ux through ABCD is
2 = 0.1 8 104 (.3/.5) = +0.48 104 N m2 /C
The ux through the entire surface of the wedge is 1 + 2 = 0.
Example 3:
Calculate the ux through the base of the cone of radius R.

Solution :
The ux entering is perpendicular to the base. Since the outward normal to the circular base is in the opposite sense, the ux is negative and is equal to the product
of the magnitude of the eld and the area of the base, The ux, therefore is, R2 E.
Example 4 :
Calculate the ux coming out through the curved surface of the cone in the above
example.
Solution :


h
H

r
dl

Consider a circular strip of radius r at a depth h from the apex of the cone. The
angle between the electric eld through the strip and the vector dS is , where
is the semi-angle of the cone. If dl is the length element along the slope, the area
of the strip is 2rdl. Thus,
E dS = 2rdl | E | sin
We have, l = h/ cos , so that dl = dh/ cos . Further, r = h tan Substituting,
we get
E dS = 2h tan2 | E | dh
Integrating from h = 0 to h = H, the height of the cone, the outward ux is
| E | H 2 tan2 = R2 | E |.
Example 5 :
A charge Q is located at the center of a sphere of radius R. Calculate the ux
going out through the surface of the sphere.

dS

By Coulombs law, the eld due to the charge Q is radial and is given on the
surface of the sphere by,
1 Q
E=
r

40 R2
7

The direction of the area vector dS, is also radial at each point of the surface
dS = dS r . The ux

=
=

E dS
1 Q
40 R2

dS

The integral over dS is equal to the surface area of the sphere, which is, 4R2 .
Thus the ux out of the surface of the sphere is
=

Q
1 Q
4R2 =
40 R2
0

Note that the ux is independent of the radius of the sphere - a cancellation

due to the fact that the surface area of the sphere is proportional to r 2 while
the eld is proportional to 1/r 2 . Curiously, the result is valid for any arbitrarily shaped surface. Consider a cone of solid angle d centered at the charge.
This will intersect the arbitrarily
shaped surface in an ellipse whose
normal n makes an angle with the

outgoing radial direction r . If the

area of the ellipse is dS,

^
n

dS cos
d =
r2

^
r
r

so that the ux through the cone is

1 q
r dS

q
40 r 2
r 2 d
1 q
r

=
40 r 2 cos
1
nr

=
qd
40
cos
qd
(1)
=
40
Thus the total ux throgh the surface is
d =

d =

q
40
8

dS

d =

q
0

(2)

One can generalize this to multiple charges since superposition principle holds for
the electric eld. Suppose the total eld consists of elds E1 due to charge q1 , E2
due to q2 and so on. We have
E dS =

Ei dS =
i

One should note that the above

derivation is valid only if the charges
are contained within the volume for
only then the total solid angle becomes 4. For charges which are
outside the volume, the ux that enters the volume also leaves it and
though the areas which the cone intersects are different, the solid angles
are the same. This leads to cancellation of the ux and the contribution q
to the ux from a charge which resides outside the volume is zero.

qi
0

^
n2
^
r
dS2

^
n1
r

dS1

GAUSSS LAW - Integral form

The ux calculation done in Example 4 above is a general result for ux out of

any closed surface, known as Gausss law.
Total outward electric ux through a closed surface S is equal to 1/0 times
the charge enclosed by the volume dened by the surface S

1 1
0 0
dS
E
11
00
11
00
1
0
E

1
0
E

Mathematicaly, the surface integral of the electric eld over any closed surface is
equal to the net charge enclosed divided by 0
E dS =

Qenclosed
0

(3)

The law is valid for arbitry shaped surface, real or imaginary.

Its physical content is the same as that of Coulombs law.
In practice, it allows evaluation of electric eld in many practical situations by forming imagined surfaces which exploit symmetry of the problem.
Such surfaces are called Gaussian surfaces.
GAUSSS LAW - Differential form

The integral form of Gausss law can be converted to a differential form by

using the divergence theorem. If V is the volume enclosed by the surface S,
E dS =

Edv

(A)

If is the volume charge density,

Q=

dv
V

10

(B)

Thus we have
E =

(4)

Direct Calculation of divergence from Coulombs Law :

We will use the eld expression
E(r) =

1
40

(r r )
(r )d3 r
| r r |3

to directly evaluate the divergence of the electric eld. Since the differentiation
is with respect to r while the integration is with respect to r , we can take the
divergence inside the integral,
E(r) =

1
40

(r r )
(r )d3 r
|3
| rr

A simple minded calculation of divergence is as follows :

r

1
1
(r r )
= (r r)
+ (r r ) r
|3
|3
|rr
|rr
| r r |3

Divergence of r is equal to 3

x+
y+ z=3
x
y
z
1
r r
r
= 3
| r r |3
| r r |5
r r =

Thus it would seem that

r

(r r )
=0
| r r |3

i.e. E = 0, which violates Gausss Law, that E = /0 . The problem

arises because the function 1/ | r r | has a singularity at r = r . This point has
to be taken care of with care. Except at this point the divergence of the integral is
indeed zero.

11

Thus we can shrink the range of integral till it becomes a small sphere
around the point r(x, y, z). Since
(x , y , z ) is continuous, we may
replace the density on the surface of
the small sphere by the value of density at the centre, so that the density
term can come out of the integral,
leaving,

r r

(x,y,z)

(x,y,z)

(r r ) 3
r
dr
| r r |3

1
E(r) =
(r)
40

Since the divergence with respect to r is being taken of a function which only
depends on the difference r r , we may replace r r , which gives
E(r) =

1
(r)
40

(r r ) 3
d r
| r r |3

The volume integral on the right may be converted to a surface integral using the
divergence theore,
E(r) =

1
(r)
40

(r r )
dS
| r r |3

where the integral is over the surface of the sphere. If the radius of the sphere be
taken as r0 , r r = r0 n and dS = dS n, Hence

E =+

1
(r)
40

1
(r)
dS
2
=
(r) 4r0 =
2
r0
40
0

Example 1: A sphere of radius R contains a continuous charge distribution (r).

The electric eld at a distance r from the centre of the sphere is E = kr 3 r .

(a) Find the charge density.

Soln. :
1
1
E = 2 (r 2 Er ) = 2 (kr 5 ) = 5kr 2 = /o
r r
r r
2
Thus = 5kr o . (b) Find the total charge contained in the sphere.
Soln. :
The total charge is obtained by integrating the charge density
R

d = 5o k

r 2 4r 2dr = 4k0 R5

12

The same result is also obtained by the surface integral of the electric eld :
E dS =

kR3 r (R2 sin dd) = 4kR5 =

Q
0

The two results are consistent.

Example 2 :

1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
Calculate the ux through the shaded 0000
1111
1111
0000
area (face of a cube of side a) when a 0000
1111
1111
0000
charge q is located at one of the dis- 0000
1111
1111
0000
tant corners from the side.
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000
1111
0000

Solution :
If the charge were located at the centre of the cube instead of the corner, the ux
would have been q/60 , by symmetry. To use this symmetry consider the given
cube to be a part of a bigger cube of side 2a 2a, as shown, so that the charge q
is in the centre of the bigger cube.
The ux through each face of the
begger cube is now q/60 . Because the side of the bigger cube
consists of four identical faces, the
ux through one fourth of the face is
clearly q/240 .
Applications of Gausss Law

1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0
1
0

Field due to a uniformly charged sphere of radius R with a charge Q

By symmetry, the eld is radial. Gaussian surface is a concentric sphere of radius
r. The outward normals to the Gaussian surface is parallel to the eld E at every
point. Hence E dS = 4r 2 | E |

13

Q
R

r
R

E
r >R

r<R

For r > R,
4r 2 | E |=
so that

Q
r2

Q
r

4r 2
The eld outside the sphere is what it would be if all the charge is concentrated at
the origin of the sphere.
E=

14

For r < R, a fraction r 3 /R3 of the

total charge is enclosed within the
gaussian surface, so that
4r 2 | E |=

1 Qr 3
0 R3

The eld inside is

E=

Q r
r

40 R3

E in arbitrary units

Field due to sphere with charge density

r--->

Exercise :
Find the electric eld both inside and outside a spherical shell of radius R carrying
a uniform charge Q.
Example 3 :
Find the electric eld inside a sphere of radius R which carries a charge density
= kr where r is the distance from the origin and k is a constant.
Solution :
By symmetry the eld is radial. Take the gaussian surface to be a sphere of radius
R. The us is 4r 2 | E |.

15

R
r

The charge enclosed by the gaussian surface is

r

(r)d3 r =

Q =
0

(r)4r 2 dr
0

r 3 dr

= 4k
0

= kr 4
Thus

1 kr 2
r

E=
0 4

(what is the dimension of k ?)

Exercise : A hollow spherical shell carries a charge density = k/r 2 for
a r b. Calculate the eld at all points.
(Ans. For r < a, eld is zero, for
a < r < b, | E |= k(r a)/0 r 2 , and for r > b, | E |= k(b a)0 r 2 .)
Field due to an innite line charge of linear charge density
Gaussian surface is a cylinder of radius r and length L.
By symmetry, the eld has the same magnitude at every point on the curved surface and is directed outwards. At the end caps, E is perpendicular to dS everywhere and the ux is zero. For the curved surface, E and dS are parallel,

16

dS2

dS1
++++++++

++++++++

E dS = | E | .2rL
=

L
Q
=
0
0

Thus

20 r
where is a unit vector perpendicular to the line,directed outward for positive line

charge and inward for negative line charge.

E=

Exercise :
Find the electric eld both inside and outside a long cylinder of radius R carrying
a uniform volume charge density .
(Hint : Take the gaussian surface to be a nite concentric cylinder of radius r (with
r < R and r > R), as shown)

+++ ++
+

++ +
+

3 Field due to an innite charged sheet with surface charge density

Choose a cylindrical Gaussian pillbox of height h (with h/2 above the sheet and
h/2 below the sheet) and radius r.

17

dS
+ +

+ +
+

+
+
+
+
+
L
+
+ + +
+ + +
+

+
E
dS
+ +++

dS

The amount of charge enclosed is area times the surface charge density, i.e., Q =
r 2 . By symmetry, the eld is directed perpendicular to the sheet, upward at
points above the sheet and downward for points below. There is no contribution
to the ux from the curved surface. The ux from the two end faces is r 2 | E |
each, i.e. a total outward ux of 2r 2 | E |. Hence
2r 2 | E |=

Q
r 2
=
0
0

so that

20
where n is a unit vector perpendicular to the sheet, directed upward for points

above and downwards for points below (opposite, if the charge density is negative).
E=

Exercise :
Find the electric eld in the region between two innite parallel planes carrying
charge densities + and .

18

+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+

Exercise :
A very long cylinder carries a charge density = kr, where r is the distance from
the axis of the cylinder. Find the electric eld at a distance r < R.
(Ans.
2
(1/30 )kr r )

Example 4 :
Two spheres of radius R each overlap such that the distance between their centres
is separated by a distance 2R s. Show that the eld in the overlapping region is
constant.
Solution :
s

P
Q

The gure shows the eld at a point P in the overlap region due to the two spheres.
Taking the expression for eld at a point inside the sphere and resolving into xand y- components, The x- components reinforce while the y-components are in

19

the opposite directions. It can be seen,

Ey =

Q 1
(OP sin O P sin )
40 R3

Using the property of triangles (the ratio of the sides is equal to the ratio of the
sine of opposite angles a/ sin A = b/ sin B) the y-component is seen to vanish.
The x-component of the eld is
Q 1
(OP cos + O P cos )
40 R3
Q 1
=
(OQ + O Q)
40 R3
Q 1
=
s
40 R3

Ex =

Thus the eld depends only on the distance between the centres and is constant.
Example 5 :
A sphere of radius R has a cavity of radius a inside it. The sphere has uniform
charge density spread over its volume. Show that the eld inside the cavity is
constant.
Solution :
a

One can use superposition principle to solve this problem. Fill up

the cavity with equal and opposite
charge distribution. The problenm
then is equivalent to the eld due to
a sphere of radius R and charge density and a smaller sphere of radius
a, but with a charge densiuty .

O
d

r
O
R

We calculate the elds due to these two spheres at r (with respect to O, the centre

20

of the larger sphere, The eld due to larger sphere

Q r
40 R3
4 2 r
=
R 3
40 3
R

r
=
30

E1 =

By identical argument, the eld due to smaller sphere (the point P is at r d with
respect to the centre of the smaller sphere),
E2 =
Adding,
E=

(r d)
30

d = constant
30

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