Electric Flux

Density,
Gausss Law,
and Divergence
 Electric Field Lines

Example: electric field lines for isolated +2e and -e charges.

 Electric Field Lines
Electric field lines help us visualize the electric field and predict how
charged particles would respond the field.

http://phet.colorado.edu/sims/charges-and-fields/charges-and-field
Heres how electric field lines are related
to the field:
The electric field vector E is tangent to the
field lines. of lines per unit area through a
The number
surface perpendicular to the lines is
proportional to the electric field strength in
that
The region
number of lines leaving a positive
charge or approaching a negative charge is
proportional to the magnitude of the charge.
The field lines begin on positive charges and
end on negative charges.

No two field lines can cross.

3.1 Electric Flux Density
Faradays Experiment
D D

 A

If the electric field is not uniform, or the surface

is not flat

D
A
dA
If the surface is closed (completely encloses a
volume)

dA
Electric Flux Density, D
Units: C/m2
Magnitude: Number of flux lines
(coulombs) crossing a surface normal to
the lines divided by the surface area.
Direction: Direction of flux lines (same
direction as E).
For a point charge:
For a general charge distribution,
Gausss Law

The electric flux passing through

any closed surface is equal to the
total charge enclosed by that
surface.
 The integration is performed over
a closed surface, i.e. gaussian
surface.
Symmetrical Charge Distributions

Gausss law is useful under two

conditions.
1. DS is everywhere either normal or
tangential to the closed surface, so
that DS.dS becomes either DS dS or
zero, respectively.
2. On that portion of the closed
surface for which DS.dS is not zero,
DS = constant.
Gausss law simplifies the task of finding D near an
infinite line charge.
Infinite coaxial cable:
Differential Volume Element

If we take a small enough closed

surface, then D is almost constant
over the surface.