L4: Gauss’s Law and Potential

Pre-Reading:
Ch 2.2, 2.3

Announcement:
Room change for Wednesday 10 am tutorial
New room Hebb 116
 Gauss’s Law

Flux is a measure of how much field flows through a surface.

For any closed surface, flux is
equal to the net charge inside
A positive point charge +q is placed outside a closed
cylindrical surface as shown. The closed surface
consists of the flat end caps (labeled A and B) and the
curved side surface (C).
What is the sign of the electric flux through surface C?

(A) positive (B) negative (C) zero

(D) not enough information given to decide

A
q
q C
B
(Side View)
A positive point charge +q is placed outside a closed
cylindrical surface as shown. The closed surface
consists of the flat end caps (labeled A and B) and the
curved side surface (C).
What is the sign of the electric flux through surface C?

(A) positive (B) negative (C) zero

(D) not enough information given to decide

q
A

q C
(Side View)
B
An electric dipole
(+q and –q, small distance d apart)
q -q
sits centered in a Gaussian sphere.

What can you say about the flux of E through the

sphere, and |E| on the sphere?

A) Flux=0, E=0 everywhere on sphere surface

B) Flux=0, E need not be zero everywhere on sphere
C) Flux is not zero, E=0 everywhere on sphere
D) Flux is not zero, E need not be zero…
An electric dipole
(+q and –q, small distance d apart)
sits centered in a Gaussian sphere.
q -q
  Qinside
òsurf E × da = e 0
What can you say about the flux of E through the
sphere, and |E| on the sphere?
A) Flux=0, E=0 everywhere on sphere surface
B) Flux=0, E need not be zero on sphere
C) Flux is not zero, E=0 everywhere on sphere
D) Flux is not zero, E need not be zero…
 Clicker
A Gaussian surface which is not a sphere
has a single charge (q) inside it, not at the
center. There are more charges outside.
What can we say about the total electric flux
through this surface

A) It is q/ε0
B) We know what it is, but it is NOT q/ε0
C) Need more information to figure it out
 Clicker
A Gaussian surface which is not a sphere
has a single charge (q) inside it, not at the
center. There are more charges outside.
What can we say about the total electric flux
through this surface

A) It is q/ε0
B) We know what it is, but it is NOT q/ε0
C) Need more information to figure it out
 A spherical shell has a uniform positive charge
density on its surface. (There are no other
charges around)
What is the electric field inside the sphere?
+ +
+
+ +
A) E=0 everywhere inside + +
+ +
B) E is non-zero +
+
+
+
everywhere in the sphere + +
+
C) E=0 only at the very center, but non-
zero elsewhere inside the sphere.
D) Not enough info given
We place a charge Q just outside an insulating,
spherical shell (First fixing all surface charges
uniformly around the sphere, and keeping them
there)
What is the electric field +
+ +
+ +
inside the sphere? + +
Q
+ +
A) 0 everywhere inside + + +

B) non-zero everywhere
+ +
+ +
+
in the sphere
C) Something else
D) Not enough info given
We place a charge Q just outside an insulating,
spherical shell (fixing all surface charges uniformly
around the sphere)

What is the electric field +

+ +
+ +
inside the sphere? + +
Q
+ +
A) 0 everywhere inside + + +
B) non-zero everywhere + +
+ +
+
in the sphere
C) Something else
D) Not enough info given
 Gauss’ Law is easy to calculate when…
1) The magnitude of E is constant and E is
parallel to dA

2) E is perpendicular to dA
 Clicker: Consider these four closed Gaussian
surfaces, each of which straddles an infinite sheet of
constant areal mass density. The four shapes are

I: cylinder II: cube III: cylinder IV: sphere

For which of these surfaces does Gauss's law
help us find E near the surface?

A) All B) I and II only C) I and IV only D) I, II and IV only

E) Some other combo
 see also
video lecture
Group Exercise
Find the electric field E(z) above and below an infinite
sheet of uniformly distributed surface charge s.

(1) Identify the symmetry associated with the charge distribution.

(2) Determine the direction of the electric field, and a “Gaussian
surface” on which the magnitude of the electric field is constant
over portions of the surface.
(3) Divide the space into different regions associated with the
charge distribution. For each region, calculate qenc , the charge
enclosed by the Gaussian surface.
(4) Calculate the electric flux ΦE through the Gaussian surface for
each region.
(5) Equate Φe=qenc /ε0 , and deduce the magnitude of E-field.
(10 min)
 Group Exercise
Find the electric field around an infinite rod with
uniformly distributed charge density l:
4 surfaces are coaxial with an infinitely long
line of charge with uniform l. Choose all
surfaces through which fE=lL/e0

A) I only B) I and II only C) I and III only

D) I, II, and III only E) All four.
 Group Exercise

A hollow spherical shell of radius b carries

charge density ρ=0 in the region r<a and ρ=k/r2
in the region a < r < b. Find the electric field in
the 3 regions:

a) r < a
b) a < r <b a
c) r > b
b

(10 min)
 Discuss
This figure shows a spherical shell whose upper
hemisphere carries a uniform charge density +σ0 and
whose lower hemisphere carries a uniform charge
density -σ0 .

What is wrong with the following argument?

“If I draw a spherical Gaussian surface of arbitrary
radius inside the sphere, and concentric with the
sphere, zero charge is enclosed. Therefore the electric
field is zero everywhere inside the sphere."
 Gauss’s Law

In which situations
is the integral form
more helpful? In
which situations
would you prefer
the differential
form?
Differential form:
 Forms of Gauss’ Law
Both forms say the electric field leaving a volume is
proportional to the charge inside…
Integral forms are most useful for macroscopic
problems with high degrees of symmetry (spherical/axial
symmetry, line/surface integrals where the field is either
parallel or perpendicular to the surface element)
Differential forms are local- charge densities at a point
in space and time- easier to manipulate when dealing
with EM waves, easier to use in a computer to
numerically calculate EM behavior, and make it easier to
show how Maxwell’s equations relate to special relativity
etc.
 Electric potential:
The version from 1st year E&M:
• Electric potential = potential energy/charge

• DV is “path independent”

• Electric potential V = kq/r from a point charge

• E(r) = -dV/dr
 Electric Potential from Vector Calculus
Perspective

• Gauss’ Law tells us the divergence of a

charged body is non-zero

• What about the curl?

  q
Electric field of
E(r) = r̂
4pe 0 r
a point charge: 2


Ñ´E = 0!
 Extending the proof

• While we just proved that the curl of an electric field

of a point charge of the origin is zero, but because
the reference point was arbitrary and the principle of
superposition holds,

• The curl of any electrostatic distribution is always

zero! And by Stokes’ Theorem:

Curl-free E corresponds to conservative field, path-free work

 Define electric potential

Because line integral is independent of path, we

can define: Electric Potential
 Clicker: Superposition of potential

Superposition can be applied to force and

fields. Can superposition be applied to
electric potential V?

A. Yes
B. No
C. Sometimes