Gauss’ Law – electric flux

• Consider an imaginary sphere of radius R centered on

charge Q at origin:

• FLUX OF ELECTRIC FIELD LINES ? 電磁9701-c2.2-1

 Gauss’ Law – total electric flux
• FLUX OF ELECTRIC FIELD LINES (through surface S):

• ΦE = “measure” of “number of E-field “lines”

passing through surface S, (SI Units: Volt-meters).

• TOTAL ELECTRIC FLUX (ΦETOT )

associated with any closed surface S, is a measure of
the (total) charge enclosed by surface S.
• Charge outside of surface S will contribute nothing to
total electric flux ΦE (since E-field lines pass through
one portion of the surface S and out another – no net
flux!)
電磁9701-c2.2-2
 Gauss’ Law - calculation
• Consider point charge Q at origin.
• Calculate ΦE passing through a sphere of radius r:

電磁9701-c2.2-3
 Gauss’ Law in integral form

• Gauss’ Law in integral form:

Electric flux through closed surface S

(electric charge enclosed by surface S)
=
ε0

電磁9701-c2.2-4
 Gauss’ Law – discrete charges

• If ∃ (= there exists) lots of discrete charges qi ,

all enclosed by Gaussian surface S’
• by principle of superposition

• Then

電磁9701-c2.2-5
 Gauss’ Law – volume charge

• If ∃ volume charge density ρ(r) , then

• Using the DIVERGENCE THEOREM:

電磁9701-c2.2-6
 Gauss’ Law in Differential Form

• This relation holds for any volume v

⇒ the integrands of ∫v ( ) dτ' must be equal

• So, Gauss’ Law in Differential Form:

電磁9701-c2.2-7
 The DIVERGENCE OF E(r) – 1/3

• Calculate from Coulomb’ law

Extend over all space !!

NOT a constant !!

• r : Field point P
• r’: source point S

電磁9701-c2.2-8
 The DIVERGENCE OF E(r) – 2/3

• Recall that

電磁9701-c2.2-9
 The DIVERGENCE OF E(r) -3/3

Thus

or

Now, we have the Gauss’s law:

電磁9701-c2.2-10
 Gauss’ Law in Integral Form - revisited

• By the differential form of Gauss’ law:

• We have,

• Apply the Divergence Theorem

• Thus: Gauss’ Law in Integral Form

電磁9701-c2.2-11
 GAUSS’ LAW AND SYMMETRY

• Use of symmetry can be extremely powerful in terms of

simplifying seemingly complicated problems.
• Examples of use of Geometrical Symmetries and Gauss’ Law
a) Charged sphere
– concentric Gaussian sphere、spherical coordinates
b) Charged cylinder
– coaxial Gaussian cylinder、cylindrical coordinates
c) Charged box / Charged plane
– use rectangular box、rectangular coordinates
d) Charged ellipse
– concentric Gaussian ellipse、 elliptical coordinates

電磁9701-c2.2-12
 APPLICATIONS OF GAUSS’ LAW - Example 2.2 -1/3

• Find / determine the electric field intensity E(r) outside a

uniformly charged solid sphere of radius R and total
charge q

電磁9701-c2.2-13
 APPLICATIONS OF GAUSS’ LAW - Example 2.2 -2/3

• Gauss’ law

(by symmetry of sphere)

(for Gaussian sphere)

• By symmetry, the magnitude of E is constant ∀ any fixed r !!

電磁9701-c2.2-14
 APPLICATIONS OF GAUSS’ LAW - Example 2.2 -3/3

or

The electric field (for r > R) for charged sphere is equivalent to

that of a point charge q located at the origin!!!
電磁9701-c2.2-15
 Example 2.3

• Consider a long cylinder of length L and radius S that

carries a volume charge density ρ that is proportional to
the distance from the axis s of the cylinder, i.e.

a) Determine the electric field E(r) inside this long cylinder.

電磁9701-c2.2-16
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• Gauss’ law :

• Enclosed charge :

• By cylindrical Symmetry

電磁9701-c2.2-17
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• from cylindrical symmetry

= constant on cylindrical Gaussian surface

• What are the vector area element?

電磁9701-c2.2-18
Example 2.3 (conti.)

電磁9701-c2.2-19
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

Note:
• On LHS and RHS endcaps E(r) is not constant, because
r is changing there
• However, note that
=> Gaussian endcap terms do not contribute!!!

電磁9701-c2.2-20
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• Putting this all together now:

where

=>

or

電磁9701-c2.2-21
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

b) Find ELECTRIC FIELD E(r) outside of this long

cylinder
• use Coaxial Gaussian cylinder of length l (<< L)
and radius s (> S):

電磁9701-c2.2-22
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• Enclosed charge (for s > S):

• symmetry of long cylinder

電磁9701-c2.2-23
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• vector area element

電磁9701-c2.2-24
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• Now
• Then

∴ Electric field outside charged rod (s = r > S) :

電磁9701-c2.2-25
 Example 2.3 (conti.)

• Inside (s < S): • Outside (s > S):

電磁9701-c2.2-26
 Example 2.4

• An infinite plane carries uniform charge σ. Find the

electric field.

• Use Gaussian Pillbox

centered on ∞-plane:

電磁9701-c2.2-27
 Example 2.4 (conti.)

• from the symmetry associated with ∞-plane

• six sides and six outward unit normal vectors:

電磁9701-c2.2-28
 Example 2.4 (conti.)

• Then

電磁9701-c2.2-29
 Example 2.4 (conti.)
• since

• The integrals is separated into two regions:

• Then

電磁9701-c2.2-30
 Example 2.4 (conti.)

So, non-zero contributions are from bottom and top surfaces

電磁9701-c2.2-31
 Example 2.4 (conti.)

• Thus, we have:

• These integrals are not over z, and E(z) = constant for z = zo

we can pull E(z) outside integral,

電磁9701-c2.2-32
 Example 2.4 (conti.)

• Now, what is Qencl?

• Note:
電磁9701-c2.2-33
 Curl of E(r)

• Consider point charge at origin:

• By spherical symmetry (rotational invariance)

1. E(r) is radial.
2. thus static E-field has no curl.

• Calculation : see next page

電磁9701-c2.2-34
 Curl of E(r)

• Let’s calculate:

• In spherical coordinates:

電磁9701-c2.2-35
 Curl of E(r)

• thus

• So, around a closed contour C

電磁9701-c2.2-36
 Curl of E(r)

• Use Stokes’ Theorem

• Since must be true

for arbitrary closed surface S,

this can only be true for all ∀ closed surfaces S

IFF (if and only if):

電磁9701-c2.2-37
Curl of E(r) - discrete charges

電磁9701-c2.2-38
 Curl of E(r) - discrete charges

• It can be shown that

FOR ANY STATIC CHARGE DISTRIBUTION
STATIC = NO TIME DEPENDENCE / VARIATION
電磁9701-c2.2-39
 Helmholtz theorem

• Vector field A(r) is fully specified if both its divergence

and its curl are known.

• Corollary:
Any differentiable vector function A(r) that goes to zero
faster than 1 /r as r → ∞ can be expressed
as the gradient of a scalar plus the curl of a vector:

電磁9701-c2.2-40
 Helmholtz theorem for electrostatics

• For the case of electrostatics:

• Thus

• i.e.
with

( Electrostatic Potential )

~ valid for localized charge distributions

~ NOT vaild for infinite-expanse charge distributions
電磁9701-c2.2-41