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The Net Electric Flux Through A Closed Cylindrical Surface Is Zero

The document discusses using Gauss' law to calculate electric fields. It provides an example of using a Gaussian sphere to calculate the electric field of a point charge. The key steps are: (1) selecting a Gaussian surface with the same symmetry as the charge distribution, (2) evaluating the electric flux through the surface, (3) determining the enclosed charge, and (4) solving for the electric field.

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Mustafa Ramadan
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56 views

The Net Electric Flux Through A Closed Cylindrical Surface Is Zero

The document discusses using Gauss' law to calculate electric fields. It provides an example of using a Gaussian sphere to calculate the electric field of a point charge. The key steps are: (1) selecting a Gaussian surface with the same symmetry as the charge distribution, (2) evaluating the electric flux through the surface, (3) determining the enclosed charge, and (4) solving for the electric field.

Uploaded by

Mustafa Ramadan
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
Available Formats
Download as PPT, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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E

The net electric flux through a closed cylindrical surface is zero.


+
- E

If there were a + charge inside the cylinder, there would be


more lines going out than in.

If there were a - charge inside the cylinder, there would be


more lines going in than out…
…which leads us to…
Today’s agenda:
Announcements.
Electric field lines.
You must be able to draw electric field lines, and interpret diagrams that show electric field
lines.

A dipole in an external electric field.


You must be able to calculate the moment of an electric dipole, the torque on a dipole in
an external electric field, and the energy of a dipole in an external electric field.

Electric flux.
You must be able to calculate the electric flux through a surface.

Gauss’ Law.
You must be able to use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field of a high-symmetry
charge distribution.
Gauss’ Law
Mathematically*, we express the idea of the last two slides as
  q enclosed
 E   E  dA  Gauss’ Law
o Always true, not always useful.

We will find that Gauss’ law gives a simple way to calculate


electric fields for charge distributions that exhibit a high degree
of symmetry…
…and we will save more complex charge distributions for
advanced classes.

*“Mathematics is the Queen of the Sciences.”—Karl Gauss


Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.

To be worked at the blackboard in lecture…


Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.

Let’s assume the point charge E


is +.

The electric field everywhere


points away from the charge.
+q

If you go any distance r away


from +q, the electric field is
always directed “out” and has
the same magnitude as the
electric field at any other r.

What is the symmetry of the electric field? If you answered


“spherical,” treat yourself to some ice cream.
Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.
  q enclosed
 E  dA  o E

To apply Gauss’ Law, we


really want to pick a surface
for which we 
can easily +q
evaluate E  dA.

That means we want E to
everywhere be either parallel or
perpendicular to the surface.

Let’s see, for what kind of surface would this spherically-


symmetric electric field always be parallel or perpendicular? If
you answered “a sphere” buy yourself some chocolate syrup to
go on your ice cream.
Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.
  q enclosed
 E  dA  o E

So let’s draw a Gaussian


+q
sphere of radius r, enclosing
and centered on +q.
“Centered on” makes
 it easy r
to evaluate E  dA.
dA
 
Everywhere on the sphere, E and dA are parallel and E is
constant so
 
 E  dA   E dA  E  dA  E A
You do know the formula for Asphere,

sphere  E 4r 2
don’t you? If not, make sure you
can find it on the OSE sheet.
Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.
  q enclosed
 E  dA  o E

The charge enclosed by my


Gaussian sphere is q, so
  +q
q
 E  dA  E 4r  o
2

r
q
E 4r 
2

o dA

q The direction of E is shown in the diagram.
E=
4 o r 2 Or you can say E is “radially out.”
Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.
q E
E= , away from +q
4 o r 2

“But wait,” you say, “the


parameter r does not appear in +q
the problem statement, so it
can’t appear in the answer.*” r

Wrong! The problem statement 


implies you should calculate E
as a function of r.

*r does not appear to be a “system parameter.”


Example: use Gauss’ Law to calculate the electric field from an
isolated point charge q.
q E
E= , away from +q
4 o r 2

“But wait,” you say, “you


already gave us the equation +q
for the electric field of a point
charge. We haven’t learned r
anything new. It was a lot of
work for nothing.”

Wrong! You have learned how to apply Gauss’ Law. You might
find this technique useful on a future test.

You could use a cube instead of a sphere for your Gaussian surface. The flux would be the same, so the electric
field would be the same. But I don’t recommend that because the flux would be more difficult to calculate.
Homework Hint!

For tomorrow’s homework, you may not apply the equation for
the electric field of a point charge
kq
E 2
r
to a distribution of charges. Instead, use Gauss’ Law. Later I
may give you permission to use the point charge equation for
certain specific charge distributions.

q1q 2
You may recall that I said you could use F  k 2 for spherically-symmetric charge
distributions.
12 r12
kq
But I never said you could use E  2
.
r
Strategy for Solving Gauss’ Law Problems

 Select a Gaussian surface with symmetry that “matches” the


charge distribution.

Use symmetry to determine the direction of E on the Gaussian surface.

You want E to be constant
 in magnitude and everywhere perpendicular
to the surface, so that E  dA  E dA …
 
… or else everywhere parallel to the surface so that E  dA  0 .

 Evaluate the surface integral (electric flux).

 Determine the charge inside the Gaussian surface.

 Solve for E.
Don’t forget that to completely specify a vector, your answer must contain
information about its direction.

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