Physics Laboratory Report

Title: Electrostatics Lab number: 202

Name: Chandru Vasudevan Group ID: 7

Date of Experiment: _02/17/2022_ Date of Report Submission: _02/21/2022_

Course & Section Number: Phys121A006 Instructor’s Name: Topu Saha
Partners’ Names: Joshua Villanueva, Nicholas Zubrzycki, and
Julia Torres

1. INTRODUCTION (5 points)
1.1 OBJECTIVES
i In this section, using MATLAB software, you will evaluate Gauss’s Law numerically for different
surfaces and verify that the integral over the surface multiplied by e0 is the value of the enclosed
charge.
1.2 THEORETICAL BACKGROUND
i By definition, electric flux ɸE is a dot product of the electric field vector E and area vector A.
ɸE = E*A = |E|*|A|*cos(θ)
ii The area vector A of a surface is defined as a vector with magnitude (area of the surface) and
direction perpendicular (normal) to the surface.
iii The general definition of electric flux is ɸE = ∫E*dA, of which equation is the surface integral of
the dot product of the electric field E and the area A vectors. Guass’s law states that the net flux
through any closed surface is:
⨕E*dA = Q/ε0
iv , where E represents the electric field at any point on the surface and Q represents the net
charge inside the surface.
2 EXPERIMENTAL PROCEDURE (5 points)
✔ Since the experimental procedure carried out in the lab is the same as the lab procedure contained
within the NJIT Physics 121A Lab Manual, the Experimental Procedure will not be rewritten here.
3 RESULTS (30 points in total)
3.1 System 1:
 3.2 System 2:

4 ANALYSIS and DISCUSSION (35 points)

✔ Place the charge q1 at the center of the cube. Confirm that the flux through each surface is the
same.
• The flux through each face of the cube – 169.49 Nm2/C – is the same across all sides.
✔ Place the same charge q1 on the x axis at a position x = ½ a. What flux is the largest? What flux is
the smallest? Are there any identical values? Which ones? Has the total flux changed? How would
you explain that?
• After placing the charge q1 at the position x = ½ a, the largest individual flux recorded was
300.17 Nm2/C on the front face. The lowest recorded individual flux was 101.24 Nm2/C on
the front face. Moreover, the flux value of 169.49 Nm2/C is shared by the top, bottom, left,
and back faces. The total flux, on the other hand, has not changed its value. This is simply
since the net flux through any closed surface is only dependent on the total charge enclosed
within the object. It therefore does not depend on the position of the charges within the
object and is therefore immune from any of their fluctuations or value alterations. Moving the
charge inside the object does not change the total amount of charge enclosed within the
object, and therefore the total electric flux.
✔ Place the same charge q1 on the y axis at a position y = ½ a. What flux is the largest? What flux is
the smallest? Are there any identical values? Which ones? Has the total flux changed? How would
you explain that?
• After placing the charge q1 at the position y = ½ a, the largest individual flux and the lowest
recorded individual flux was 169.49 Nm2/C. It is therefore the flux value shared by all six
faces on the object. The total flux remains the same since once again the net flux through
any closed surface is only dependent on the total charge enclosed within the object. It
therefore does not depend on the position of the charges within the object and is therefore
immune from any of their fluctuations or value alterations. Moving the charge inside the
object does not change the total amount of charge enclosed within the object, and therefore
the total electric flux.
✔ Choose any location inside the cube. How does the total flux change? Explain why.
• As stated above before, the net flux through any closed surface is only dependent on the
total charge enclosed within the surface as well as the magnitude and direction of the
electric field on the said object’s surface. Both properties do not depend on the size nor
 position of the charges within the object and are therefore immune from any of their
fluctuations or value alterations. Regardless of where the charge is moved around, the
electric field around the object does not change. On the same token, the total amount of
charge enclosed within the object is not affected.
✔ Double the magnitude of the charge q1. By what factor does the flux change?
• When the magnitude of the charge q1 is doubled, the flux changes by a factor of
338.98/169.49 = 2.
✔ Increase the size of the cube to a = 2, then a = 10, then a = 100. Does the flux change? Does
Gauss’s law appear to hold? Explain.
• When the size of the is increased from a = 1 to a = 2, a = 10, and even a = 100, the total flux
in the system remains the same. As before, Gauss’s law continues to hold, as even though
the total volume in which the charge is enclosed increases, the total charge encapsulated
within does not change. Therefore, the flux will not change.
✔ Change the size of the cube back to 1 and place a positive charge on the z axis at z = 2a (a charge
is placed outside of the cube). How does the total flux change? Explain why.
• When a is set back to 1 and the charge q1 is placed at the position z = 2a, the total flux
drops almost to zero, becoming the miniscule amount of 1.8 x 10-15 Nm2/C. This is due to the
fact that the charge is no longer enclosed within the object and is no longer accounted for by
the net electric flux equation.
5 CONCLUSIONS (10 points)
5.1 In conclusion, through the conduction of this lab, we were able to successfully evaluate
Gauss’s Law numerically for different surfaces and verify that the integral over the surface multiplied by
e0, which is the definition of Gauss’s Law, is equivalent to the value of the enclosed charge.
6 Attachment of Raw Data (5 points)

Syste Syste
Q1: Q2: Q3: Q4: Q5: Q6a: Q6b: Q6c: Q7:
m 1: m 2:

74614.
ɸTop 100.22 169.49 153.88 153.88 169.49 338.98 169.49 169.49 169.49 -169.49
14

62657.
ɸBottom 87.80 169.49 153.88 153.88 169.49 338.98 169.49 169.49 169.49 32.42
78

27752.
ɸLeft 84.28 169.49 153.88 101.24 169.49 338.98 169.49 169.49 169.49 34.26
58

36276.
ɸRight 105.06 169.49 101.24 300.17 169.49 338.98 169.49 169.49 169.49 34.26
24

190503
ɸFront 97.93 169.49 300.17 153.88 169.49 338.98 169.49 169.49 169.49 34.26
.80

173167
ɸBack 89.67 169.49 153.88 153.88 169.49 338.98 169.49 169.49 169.49 34.26
.22

564971 1.8 x
ɸAll 564.97 1016.9 1016.9 1016.9 1016.9 2033.9 1016.9 1016.9 1016.9
.75 10-15
a 1 12x4x8 1 1 1 1 1 2 10 100 1

1.8 x 8.5 x
q 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9 9 x 10-9
10-8 10-22