Electric Flux and Gauss’ Law

Today’s Agenda

• Recap of Flux
• Objectives
• Gauss’ law tutorial
 Electric Flux Recap
The electric field is stronger where the surface is
more sharply curved.
Electric Flux

• The number of lines leaving a positive

charge or entering a negative charge is
proportional to the magnitude of the
charge.

• The product of the magnitude of the

electric field E and surface area A
perpendicular to the field is called
the electric flux Φ
Point Charges of Different Magnitudes

Let’s compare the fields on two separate isolated point charges, one
with a charge of +1 unit, the other with a charge of +2 units. It
doesn’t matter how many field lines we draw emanating from the +1
charge so long as we draw twice as many line coming from the +2
charge. This means, at a given distance, the strength of the E field
for the +2 charge is twice that for the +1 charge.

+1 +2
Electric Flux
Consider an electric field that is uniform in both magnitude
and direction. The electric field lines penetrate a surface of
area A, which is perpendicular to the field. The technique
used for drawing a figure such as the one below, is that the
number of lines per unit area ‘N/A’, is proportional to the
magnitude of the electric field, or E ~ N/A. We can rewrite
this proportion as N ~ EA, which means that the number of
field lines is proportional to the product of E and A. This is
called the electric flux and represented by the symbol Φ
Electric Flux

However, if the surface in question is not

perpendicular to the electric lines passing through it,
we use this formula
But… Why is there 2 formulas for
Electric Flux?
Electric Flux Tutorial

1) Calculate the magnitude of the flux of a constant electric field

of 5.00 N/C in the z-direction through a rectangle with area
4.00 m^2 in the xy-plane.
(a) 0
(b) 10.0 Nm^2 /C
(c) 20.0 N m^2 /C
(d) More information is needed
Electric Flux Tutorial

2) Suppose the electric field of the question above is tilted 60°

away from the positive z-direction. Calculate the magnitude of
the flux through the same area.
(a) 0
(b) 10.0 Nm^2 /C
(c) 20.0 Nm^2 /C
(d) More information is needed
Objectives

• State Gauss’s law

• Explain the conditions under which
Gauss’s law may be used
• Apply Gauss’s law in appropriate
systems
 Electric Flux and Gauss’s Law

Although it’s not obvious, Gauss’s law describes how charges create
electric fields. In principle it can always be used to calculate the
electric field of a system of charges or a continuous distribution of
charge. In practice, the technique is useful only in a limited number of
cases in which there is a high degree of symmetry, such as spheres,
cylinders, or planes. With the symmetry of these special shapes, the
charges can be surrounded by an imaginary surface, called a
Gaussian surface. This imaginary surface is used strictly for
mathematical calculation, and need not be an actual, physical surface.
If the imaginary surface is chosen so that the electric field is constant
everywhere on it, the electric field can be computed with
Electric Flux and Gauss’s Law

The constant ε0 is called the permittivity of free space and has

the value
 Electric Flux and Gauss’s Law

Gauss’s law can be used to find the electric field in

systems with simple configurations.
 Electric Flux and Gauss’s Law

1) Find the electric flux through the surface in Figure 15.28.

Assume all charges in the shaded area are inside the surface.
(a) -(3 C)/ε0
(b) (3 C)/ε0
(c) 0
(d) -(6 C)/ε0
 Electric Flux and Gauss’s Law

2) For a closed surface through which the net flux is zero, each of
the following four statements could be true. Which of the
statements must be true? (There maybe more than one.)
(a) There are no charges inside the surface.
(b) The net charge inside the surface is zero.
(c) The electric field is zero everywhere on the surface.
(d) The number of electric field lines entering the surface
equals the number leaving the surface.