23.

2 – Electric Flux
 
Electric flux:  E  EA cos  where  is the angle between the E and A .
• The maximum electric flux magnitude is EA (when   0 ).
• The minimum electric flux magnitude is zero (when   90 ).
• The electric flux can also be negative (when 90    2700 ).
N  m2
• Units of electric flux are .
C
 
 E  E  A for a uniform electric field

Area vector: A  Anˆ
A = the area of the surface
n̂ = unit vector that is normal to the surface
 
 E   E  dA for a non-uniform electric field or an irregular shaped object

dA is a infinitesimal differential area element

Notice that if electric field is uniform and points in the same direction as the area vector,
then  E   E  dA cos 0  E  dA  EA .

 
In unit vector notation, use E  E x iˆ  E y ˆj  E z kˆ and A  Ax iˆ  Ay ˆj  Az kˆ
 
 E  E  A for a uniform electric field.

  
 E  E x iˆ  E y ˆj  E z kˆ  Ax iˆ  Ay ˆj  Az kˆ   E  E x Ax  E y Ay  E z Az

Electric flux over a closed Surface

Electric flux through the ith surface is  E ,i  Ei Ai cos  i
N N
Total electric flux through the entire surface:  E    E ,i   Ei Ai cos  i
1 1
The net flux is zero for a closed surface inthe presence
 of an external electric field.
• There will be no contribution where the E and A are perpendicular.

• There will be positive contributions where the E and A point in the same direction.
• There will be negative contributions where the E and A point in opposite directions.
 
 E   E  dA  0 for a closed surface in an external electric field.


Differential area vector of a closed surface: dA  dAnˆ
dA = the differential area element
n̂ = unit vector that is normal to the surface and points outward from the interior.