Chapter 22

Flux
Number

of objects passing through a

surface

Electric Flux,
is

proportional to the number of electric field

lines passing through a surface
Assumes that the surface is perpendicular
to the lines
If

not, then we use a cosine of the angle

between them to get the components that
are parallel

Mathematically:

E A cos E A
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Simple Cases

A
A

=EA

=0

=EAcos

E cos

From to
A represents

a sum over a large a

collection of objects
Integration is also a sum over a collection of
infinitesimally small objects, in our case,
small areas, dA

So
E dA

Since dA represents dxdy then, technically,

E dA
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Gausss Law
The

field lines emitted by a charge are

proportional to the size of the charge.
Therefore, the electric field must be
proportional to the size of the charge
In order to count the field lines, we must
enclose the charges in some
geometrical surface (one that we
choose)
6

Mathematically

q
Charge enclosed
within bounding limits
of this closed surface
integral

qenclosed
E

d
A

0
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Fluxes, Fluxes, Fluxes

3 Shapes
Sphere
Cylinder
Pillbox

Sphere

When to use: around

spherical objects (duh!) and
point charges
Hey! What if an object is
not one of these objects?
Closed surface integral
yields:

2
E dA E (4r )

r is the radius of the

geometrical object that you
are creating

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Sphere Example
What if you had a sphere of radius, b, which contained a material whose
charge density depend on the radius, for example, =Ar2 where A is a
constant with appropriate units?

Inside the sphere :

qenclosed V

4 3
4
( Ar )( r ) Ar 5
3
3
2

qenclosed

2
E

d
A

E
(
4

r
)

4
E (4r )
Ar 5
3 0
2

A 3
r
3 0

Outside the sphere :

qtotal V

4 3
4
( Ab )( b ) Ab 5
3
3
2

qenclosed

2
E dA E (4r )
E (4r 2 )

4
Ab 5
3 0

A 5
b
3 0
E
r2

At r=b, both of these expressions should be equal

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Cylinder

When to use: around

cylindrical objects and
line charges
Closed surface integral
yields:

E dA E (2rL)

r is the radius of the

geometrical object that
you are creating and L is
the length of the cylinder
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Cylinder Example

E dA E (2rL)

What if you had an

infinitely long line of q
enclosed L
charge with a linear
L
charge density, ?
E (2rL)
0

E
or E
r
2r 0
2r 0

13

Pillbox
When

to use: around
flat surfaces and
sheets of charge
Closed surface
integral yields:

d
A

EA

A is

the area of the

pillbox
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Charge Isolated Conductor in

Electrostatic Equilibrium

If excess charge is placed on an isolated conductor,

the charge resides on the surface. Why?

If there is an E-field inside the conductor then it would exert

forces on the free electrons which would then be in motion.
This is NOT electrostatic.

Therefore, if there is no E-field inside, then, by

Gausss Law, the charge enclosed inside must be zero

If the charges are not on the outside, you are only left with the
surface
A caveat to this is that E-field lines must be perpendicular to
the surface else free charges would move.

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Electric field on an infinitely large

sheet of charge
Let

q
A

A
E
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
E

E dA EA ( E )( A) 2 EA

qenclosed A
So
2 EA

A
0

E
2 0

or

E
n
2 0
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Electric field on a conducting sheet

Let

q
A

A
E
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

E dA EA 0 EA

qenclosed A
So

So a conductor has 2x the

electric field strength as
the infinite sheet of charge

A
0

E
or E n
0
0
EA

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A differential view of Gausss Law

Recall

the
Divergence of a field
of vectors

Div(v ) v
How much the vector
diverges around a given
point

Div=+large
Div=0

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Divergence Theorem (aka Gausss

Thm or Greens Thm)

v
d

d
A

Suspiciously like LHS

of Gausss Law

A place of high divergence is like a faucet

Bounded surface
of some region

Sum of the faucets in a volume = Sum of the water

going thru the
surface

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Div(E)
qenclosed
E dA 0

qenclosed
E d 0

and

qenclosed d

so

E
0
So how the E-field spreads out from a point depends on the amount of
charge density at that point

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