Summer July 2006 1

Lecture 3 Gausss Law Chp. 24

Cartoon - Electric field is analogous to gravitational field
Opening Demo -
Warm-up problem
Physlet /webphysics.davidson.edu/physletprob
Topics
Flux
Electric Flux and Example
Gauss Law
Coulombs Law from Gauss Law
Isolated conductor and Electric field outside conductor
Application of Gauss Law
Charged wire or rod
Plane of charge
Conducting Plates
Spherical shell of charge
List of Demos
Faraday Ice pail: metal cup, charge ball,
teflon rod, silk,electroscope
Summer July 2006 2
EA 0 cos EA , So
0 A E
! ! *
! U
T T
Electric Flux
Flux is a measure of the number of field lines passing through an area
Electric flux is the number of Electric field lines penetrating a surface or an area.
area field the of component normal lux - = 1 =
A E A ) cos E ( lux Electric
T T
! U ! * !
In general,
A E
E
A
U
a
b
A E = U
T T
EA 707 . 0 45 c s EA
T , 45 t
= = 1
= o
n

A A r =
T T
Summer July 2006 3
Gausss Law
Gausss law makes it possible to find the electric field easily in
highly symmetric situations.
Drawing electric field lines around charges leads us to Gauss
Law
The idea is to draw a closed surface like a balloon around any
charge distribution, then some field line will exit through the
surface and some will enter or renter. If we count those that
leave as positive and those that enter as negative, then the net
number leaving will give a measure of the net positive charge
inside.
Summer July 2006 4
Electric lines of flux and Gausss Law
The flux J through a plane surface of area A due to a uniform field E
is a simple product:
where E is normal to the area A .
%


n


r
E
%


n


r
E
%


n


r
E
U
because the normal component of E is 0
EA ! *
0 0 ! v ! ! * A A E
n
A E A E
n
! ! * U cos
Summer July 2006 5
A E
T T
( = 1

A d E
T T
! *

Approximate Flux
Exact Flux
Circle means you integrate
over a closed surface.


d
r
A =

n dA
Summer July 2006 6
Find the electric flux through a cylindrical surface in
a uniform electric field E
A d E
T T
= 1

d
r
A =

n dA

= E

cosUdA

1= E

cos180dA = EdA

= EzR
2
a.
b.
2
0 cos R E EdA dA E T ! ! ! *


*! E

cos90dA = 0
c.
Flux from a. + b. + c. ! 0
What would be the flux if the
cylinder were vertical ?
Suppose it were any
shape?
Summer July 2006 7
Electric lines of flux and
Derivation of Gauss Law using Coulombs law
Consider a sphere drawn around a positive point charge.
Evaluate the net flux through the closed surface.
A d E
T T
= 1

dA
Net Flux =

= E

cosUdA = EdA

For a Point charge

dA
r
kq
EdA

! ! *
2
) 4 (
2
2 2
r
r
kq
dA
r
kq
T ! ! *

*! 4zkq
2
2
12
0
0
10 x 85 . 8 r
1
4
Nm
C
k

= = e
e
z
1
net
=
q
enc
e
0
Gauss Law


d
r
A !

n dA


n
2
r
k
E =
1 0 c s =
n E
Summer July 2006 8
0
e
enc
net
q
= 1
This result can be extended to any shape surface
with any number of point charges inside and
outside the surface as long as we evaluate the
net flux through it.
Gauss Law
Summer July 2006 9
Applications of Gausss Law
Find electric filed of an infinite long uniformly charged wire of
negligible radius.
Find electric field of a large thin flat plane or sheet of charge.
Find electric field around two parallel flat planes.
Find E inside and outside of a long solid cylinder of charge
density V and radius r.
Find E for a thin cylindrical shell of surface charge density W.
Find E inside and outside a solid charged sphere of charge
density V.
Summer July 2006 10
Electric field in and around conductors
Inside a conductor in electrostatic
equilibrium the electric field is zero
( averaged over many atomic volumes).
The electrons in a conductor move
around so that they cancel out any
electric field inside the conductor
resulting from free charges
anywhere including outside the
conductor. This results in a net force of
= 0 inside the conductor. eE F =
Summer July 2006 11
Electric field in and around
conductors
Any net electric charge resides
on the surface of the conductor
within a few angstroms (10
-10
m).
Draw a Gaussian surface just
inside
the conductor. We know
everywhere on this surface.
Hence, the net flux is zero. Hence,
the net charge inside is zero.
Show Faraday ice pail demo.
0 = E
Summer July 2006 12
Electric field in and around
conductors
The electric field just outside a conductor has
magnitude and is directed perpendicular to the
surface.
Draw a small pill box that extends
into the conductor. Since there is
no field inside, all the flux comes
out through the top.
0 0
e
o
e
A q
EA ! !
0
e
= E
0
e
Summer July 2006 13
Two Conducting Plates
Summer July 2006 14
Negative charge in a neutral
conducting metal shell
Summer July 2006 15
Find the electric field for an infinite long wire
Charge per unit length P = =
L
Q
n

E E
n
!
T
o 0 = n

E

E
n
d = E d = E 2zrh


o = E
n
d =
q
e
0

rh 2 E 0
side endcaps
T !
! J
E =
P
2ze
0
r
0 90 Cos
90
n

E
!
! U
B
T
0
h
I
P
=
Summer July 2006 16
Application of Gausss Law
Electric field inside and outside a solid uniformly charged sphere
Often used as a model of the nucleus.
Electron scattering experiments have shown that the charge
density is constant for some radius and then suddenly drops
off at about

2 3-10
14
m.
For the nucleus,
m
10
26
= o
= o
R
harge
density per
unit volume
m 10
14
-
Summer July 2006 17
Electric Field inside and outside a uniformly charged sphere

V !
Q
4
3
TR
3
, r e R

Q = Total charge
= z v1.6 v10
-19
C
Inside the sphere:
To find the charge at a distance r<R
Draw a gaussian surface of radius r
By symmetry E is radial and parallel to
normal at the surface. By Gausss Law:

E 4Tr
2
!
q
I
0
!
V
4
3
Tr
3
I
0

E !
Vr
3I
0
Outside the sphere:

E 4Tr
2
!
q
I
0
!
V
4
3
TR
3
I
0
2
0
3
r 3
R
E
I
V
!
Same as a point charge q
Summer July 2006 18
Electric field vs. radius for a conducting sphere
(similar to gravity)
r E
r
w
2
r
r
1
E w
r
E