PHYSICS

FOR SCIENTISTS AND ENGINEERS A STRATEGIC APPROACH 4/E

Chapter 24 Lecture

RANDALL D. KNIGHT
Chapter 24 Gauss’s Law

IN THIS CHAPTER, you will learn about and apply

Gauss’s law.
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 Chapter 24 Preview

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 Chapter 24 Preview

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 Chapter 24 Preview

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 Chapter 24 Preview

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 Chapter 24 Preview

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 Chapter 24 Content, Examples, and
QuickCheck Questions

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 Electric Field of a Charged Cylinder

 Suppose we knew only two things about electric fields:

1. The field points away from positive charges, toward
negative charges.
2. An electric field exerts a force on a charged particle.
 From this information alone, what can we deduce about
the electric field of an infinitely long charged cylinder?

 All we know is that this charge is positive, and that it

has cylindrical symmetry.
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 Cylindrical Symmetry
 An infinitely long charged cylinder
is symmetric with respect to
• Translation parallel to the
cylinder axis.
• Rotation by an angle about
the cylinder axis.
• Reflections in any plane
containing or perpendicular
to the cylinder axis.
 The symmetry of the electric
field must match the symmetry
of the charge distribution.

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 Electric Field of a Charged Cylinder
 Could the field look like the figure below? (Imagine this
picture rotated about the axis.)
 The next slide shows what the field would look like
reflected in a plane perpendicular to the axis (left to right).

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 Electric Field of a Charged Cylinder
 This reflection, which does not make any change in the
charge distribution itself, does change the electric field.
 Therefore, the electric field of a cylindrically symmetric
charge distribution cannot have a component parallel
to the cylinder axis.

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 Electric Field of a Charged Cylinder
 Could the field look like the figure below? (Here we’re
looking down the axis of the cylinder.)
 The next slide shows what the field would look like
reflected in a plane containing the axis (left to right).

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 Electric Field of a Charged Cylinder
 This reflection, which does not make any change in the
charge distribution itself, does change the electric field.
 Therefore, the electric field of a cylindrically symmetric
charge distribution cannot have a component tangent
to the circular cross section.

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 Electric Field of a Charged Cylinder
 Based on symmetry arguments alone, an infinitely long
charged cylinder must have a radial electric field, as
shown below.
 This is the one electric field shape that matches the
symmetry of the charge distribution.

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 Planar Symmetry
 There are three fundamental
symmetries; the first is planar
symmetry.
 Planar symmetry involves
symmetry with respect to:
• Translation parallel to the
plane.
• Rotation about any line
perpendicular to the plane.
• Reflection in the plane.

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 Cylindrical Symmetry

 There are three fundamental

symmetries; the second is
cylindrical symmetry.
 Cylindrical symmetry involves
symmetry with respect to
• Translation parallel to
the axis.
• Rotation about the axis.
• Reflection in any plane
containing or perpendicular
to the axis.

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 Spherical Symmetry
 There are three fundamental
symmetries; the third is
spherical symmetry.
 Spherical symmetry involves
symmetry with respect to
• Rotation about any axis that
passes through the center
point.
• Reflection in any plane
containing the center point.

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 The Concept of Flux

 Consider a box surrounding a region of space.

 We can’t see into the box, but we know there is an
outward-pointing electric field passing through every
surface.
 Since electric fields
point away from
positive charges,
we can conclude
that the box must
contain net positive
electric charge.

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 The Concept of Flux

 Consider a box surrounding a region of space.

 We can’t see into the box, but we know there is an
inward-pointing electric field passing through every
surface.
 Since electric fields
point toward negative
charges, we can
conclude that the
box must contain net
negative electric charge.

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 The Concept of Flux

 Consider a box surrounding a region of space.

 We can’t see into the box, but we know that the electric
field points into the box on the left, and an equal electric
field points out of the box on the right.
 Since this external
electric field is not
altered by the contents
of the box, the box
must contain zero
net electric charge.

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 Gaussian Surfaces

 A closed surface through

which an electric field
passes is called a
Gaussian surface.
 This is an imaginary,
mathematical surface,
not a physical surface.

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 Gaussian Surfaces
 A Gaussian surface is most useful when it matches the
shape and symmetry of the field.
 Figure (a) below shows a cylindrical Gaussian surface.
 Figure (b) simplifies the drawing by showing two-dimensional
end and side views.
 The electric field is everywhere perpendicular to the side wall
and no field passes through the top and bottom surfaces.

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 Gaussian Surfaces

 Not every surface is

useful for learning
about charge.
 Consider the
spherical surface in
the figure.
 This is a Gaussian surface, and the protruding electric
field tells us there’s a positive charge inside.
 It might be a point charge located on the left side, but we
can’t really say.
 A Gaussian surface that doesn’t match the symmetry of
the charge distribution isn’t terribly useful.
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 The Basic Definition of Flux
 Imagine holding a rectangular wire loop of area A in
front of a fan.
 The volume of air flowing through the loop each second
depends on the angle between the loop and the
direction of flow.
 The flow is maximum
through a loop that is
perpendicular to the
airflow.

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 The Basic Definition of Flux

 Imagine holding
a rectangular wire
loop of area A in
front of a fan.
 No air goes through
the same loop if
it lies parallel to
the flow.

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 The Basic Definition of Flux

 Imagine holding
a rectangular wire
loop of area A in
front of a fan.
 The volume of air
flowing through the
loop each second
depends on the angle
θ between the loop
normal and the
velocity of the air:

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 The Electric Flux

 The electric flux Φe measures the amount of electric

field passing through a surface of area A whose
normal to the surface is tilted at angle θ from the field.

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 The Area Vector
 Let’s define an area vector to be a vector in
the direction of , perpendicular to the surface, with a
magnitude A equal to the area of the surface.
 Vector has units of m2.

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 The Electric Flux
 An electric field passes through a surface of area A.
 The electric flux can be defined as the dot-product:

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 Example 24.1 The Electric Flux Inside a
Parallel-Plate Capacitor

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 Example 24.1 The Electric Flux Inside a
Parallel-Plate Capacitor

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 Example 24.1 The Electric Flux Inside a
Parallel-Plate Capacitor

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 The Electric Flux of a Nonuniform Electric Field

 Consider a surface in a nonuniform electric field.

 Divide the surface into many small pieces of area δA.
 The electric flux through each small piece is

 The electric flux

through the whole
surface is the
surface integral:

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 The Flux Through a Curved Surface

 Consider a curved surface in an electric field.

 Divide the surface into many small pieces of area δA.
 The electric flux through each small piece is

 The electric flux

through the whole
surface is the
surface integral:

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 Electric Fields Tangent to a Surface

 Consider an electric field that is everywhere tangent,

or parallel, to a curved surface.
 is zero at every point on the surface, because
is perpendicular to at every point.
 Thus Φe = 0.

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 Electric Fields Perpendicular to a Surface

 Consider an electric
field that is everywhere
perpendicular to the
surface and has the
same magnitude E at
every point.
 In this case,

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 Tactics: Evaluating Surface Integrals

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 The Electric Flux Through a Closed Surface

 The electric flux through a closed surface is

 The electric flux is still the summation of the fluxes

through a vast number of tiny pieces, pieces that now
cover a closed surface.
 NOTE: For a closed surface, we use the convention
that the area vector dA is defined to always point
toward the outside.

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 Tactics: Finding the Flux Through a Closed
Surface

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 Electric Flux of a Point Charge

 The flux integral through a

spherical Gaussian surface
centered on a single point
charge is

 The surface area of a sphere

is Asphere = 4πr2.
 Using Coulomb’s law for E,
we find

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 Electric Flux of a Point Charge

 The electric flux through a

spherical surface centered
on a single positive point
charge is Φe = q/ϵ0.
 This depends on the
amount of charge, but not
on the radius of the
sphere.
 For a point charge, electric
flux is independent of r.

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 Electric Flux of a Point Charge
 The electric flux through
any arbitrary closed
surface surrounding a
point charge q may be
broken up into spherical
and radial pieces.
 The total flux through the
spherical pieces must be
the same as through a
single sphere:

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 Electric Flux of a Point Charge

 The electric flux through

any arbitrary closed surface
entirely outside a point
charge q may also be
broken up into spherical
and radial pieces.
 The total flux through
the concave and convex
spherical pieces must
cancel each other.
 The net electric flux is
zero through a closed
surface that does not
contain any net charge.
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 Electric Flux of Multiple Charges
 Consider an arbitrary
Gaussian surface and a
group of charges q1, q2, q3, …
 The contribution to the total
flux for any charge qi inside
the surface is qi /ϵ0.
 The contribution for any
charge outside the surface
is zero.
 Defining Qin to be the sum
of all the charge inside the
surface, we find Φe = Qin /ϵ0.

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 Gauss’s Law

 For any closed surface enclosing total charge Qin,

the net electric flux through the surface is

 This result for the electric flux is known as Gauss’s

Law.

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 Using Gauss’s Law

1. Gauss’s law applies only to a closed surface, called

a Gaussian surface.
2. A Gaussian surface is not a physical surface. It need
not coincide with the boundary of any physical object
(although it could if we wished). It is an imaginary,
mathematical surface in the space surrounding one
or more charges.
3. We can’t find the electric field from Gauss’s law
alone. We need to apply Gauss’s law in situations
where, from symmetry and superposition, we already
can guess the shape of the field.

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 Problem-Solving Strategy: Gauss’s Law

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 Example 24.3 Outside a Sphere of Charge

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 Example 24.3 Outside a Sphere of Charge

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 Example 24.3 Outside a Sphere of Charge

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 Example 24.3 Outside a Sphere of Charge

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 Example 24.3 Outside a Sphere of Charge

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 Example 24.3 Outside a Sphere of Charge

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 Example 24.6 The Electric Field of a Plane of
Charge

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 Example 24.6 The Electric Field of a Plane of
Charge

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 Example 24.6 The Electric Field of a Plane of
Charge

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 Example 24.6 The Electric Field of a Plane of
Charge

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 Example 24.6 The Electric Field of a Plane of
Charge

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 Example 24.6 The Electric Field of a Plane of
Charge

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 Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium

 The figure shows a

Gaussian surface just
inside a conductor’s
surface.
 The electric field must be
zero at all points within the
conductor, or else the
electric field would cause
the charge carriers to
move and it wouldn’t be in
equilibrium.
 By Gauss’s Law, Qin = 0

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 Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium

 The external electric

field right at the surface
of a conductor must be
perpendicular to that
surface.
 If it were to have a
tangential component,
it would exert a force on
the surface charges and
cause a surface current,
and the conductor would
not be in electrostatic
equilibrium.
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 Electric Field at the Surface of a Conductor

 A Gaussian surface extending

through the surface of a
conductor has a flux only
through the outer face.
 The net flux is
Φe = AEsurface = Qin/ϵ0.
 Here Qin = ηA, so the electric
field at the surface of a
conductor is

where η is the surface charge density of the conductor.

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 Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium

 The figure shows a charged

conductor with a hole inside.
 Since the electric field is zero
inside the conductor, we must
conclude that Qin = 0 for the
interior surface.
 Furthermore, since there’s
no electric field inside the
conductor and no charge
inside the hole, the electric
field in the hole must be zero.

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 Faraday Cages
 The use of a conducting box, or Faraday cage, to
exclude electric fields from a region of space is called
screening.

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 Conductors in Electrostatic Equilibrium

 The figure shows a

charge q inside a hole
within a neutral conductor.
 Net charge –q moves to
the inner surface and net
charge +q is left behind
on the exterior surface.

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 Tactics: Finding the Electric Field of a Conductor
in Electrostatic Equilibrium

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 Example 24.7 The Electric Field at the Surface
of a Charged Metal Sphere

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 Example 24.7 The Electric Field at the Surface
of a Charged Metal Sphere

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 Example 24.7 The Electric Field at the Surface
of a Charged Metal Sphere

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 Chapter 24 Summary Slides

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 General Principles

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 General Principles

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 Important Concepts

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 Important Concepts

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 Important Concepts

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 Applications

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