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Date: 05th Oct, 2023

APPLIED PHYSICS (PH 111)

Lecture # 04
Lecturer Waqas Arshad

AIR UNIVERSITY ISLAMABAD

 CONTENT (Lec 4)
1. Electric Flux
2. Gauss’s Law
3. Applications of Gauss’s Law
a. Cylindrical Symmetry
b. Planer Symmetry
c. Spherical Symmetry
Electric Flux
 Electric Flux (Contd.)
⬡
 Electric Flux (Contd.)

Closed Surface:
To use Gauss’ law to relate flux and charge, we need a closed
surface.
⬡ Let’s use the closed surface in Fig. 23-5 that sits in a non-uniform
electric field.
⬡ As before, first consider the flux through small square patches.
However, now we are interested in not only the piercing
components of the field but also on whether the piercing is inward Figure: 23-5
Electric Flux (Contd.)

Figure: 23-5
 Gauss’s Law
Learning Objectives:
After studying this chapter you should be able to do the following:
1. Apply Gauss Law to relate the net flux & through a closed surface to the net enclosed charge
qenc.
2. Identify how the algebraic sign of the net enclosed charge corresponds to the direction (inward
or outward) of the net flux through a Gaussian surface.
3. Identify that charge outside a Gaussian surface makes no contribution to the net flux through the
closed surface.
4. Derive the expression for the magnitude of the electric field of a charged particle by using
Gauss’ law.
5. Identify that for a charged particle or uniformly charged sphere, Gauss’ law is applied with a
Gaussian surface that is a concentric sphere.
• Gauss’law relatesGauss’s Lawφ (Contd.)
the net flux of an electric field through a closed surface (a
Gaussian surface) to the net charge qenc that is enclosed by that surface.

• By substituting Eq.23-4, the definition of flux, we can also write Gauss’ law as;

• Eqs 23-6 and 23-7 hold only when the net charge is located in a vacuum or in air.
• In Eqs.23-6 and 23-7, the net charge qenc is the algebraic sum of all the enclosed
positive and negative charges, and it can be positive, negative, or zero.

• Butinclude the sign, rather than just use the magnitude of the enclosed charge,
because the sign tells us something about the net flux through the Gaussian surface:
 Gauss’s Law (Contd.)
⬡ Charge outside the surface, no matter how large or how close it
may be, is not included in the term qenc in Gauss’ law. The exact
form and location of the charges inside the Gaussian surface are also
of no concern; the only things that matter on the right side of Eqs.
23-6 and 23-7 are the magnitude and sign of the net enclosed charge.
⬡ The quantity on the left side of Eq.23-7 is the electric field
resulting from all charges inside the Gaussian surface but the
electric field due to a charge outside the Gaussian surface
contributes zero net flux through the surface, because as many
field lines due to that charge enter the surface as leave it.
⬡ Let us apply these ideas to Fig. 23-8, which shows two particles,
with charges equal in magnitude but opposite in sign, and the field
lines describing the electric fields the particles set up in the
surrounding space.
⬡ Four Gaussian surfaces (S1, S2, S3 & S4) are also shown in cross
section.
Figure 23-8
23-2 Gauss’s Law (Contd.)

Figure 23-8
 Gauss’s Law (Contd.)
Gauss’ Law and Coulomb’s Law
⬡
Gauss’s Law (Contd.)
Sample Problem 23.03 Using Gauss’ law to find the electric field
Sample Problem 23.03 Using Gauss’ law to find the electric field (Contd.)
Sample Problem 23.04 Using Gauss’ law to find the enclosed charge
Example: Flux Due to a Point Charge
Example: Electric Flux and Enclosed Charge
Applications of Gauss’s Law
 1. Applying Gauss’s Law to Cylindrical Symmetry
Learning Objectives:
After studying this chapter you should be able to do the following:
1. Explain how’s the Gauss law is used to derive the electric field magnitude outside a line of
charge or a cylindrical surface (such as a plastic rod) with a uniform linear charge density λ.
2. Apply the relationship between linear charge density λ.
3. on a cylindrical surface and the electric field magnitude E at radial distance r from the central
axis.
4. Explain how Gauss’ law can be used to find the electric field magnitude inside a cylindrical
non-conducting surface (such as a plastic rod) with a uniform volume charge density ρ.
 Applying Gauss’s Law to Cylindrical Symmetry (Contd.)
⬡ Fig. 23-14 shows a section of an infinitely long cylindrical plastic
rod with a uniform charge density λ.
⬡ Let’s find an expression for the electric field magnitude E at radius r
from the central axis of the rod, outside the rod.
⬡ The charge distribution and the field have cylindrical symmetry.
⬡ To find the field at radius r, we enclose a section of the rod with a
concentric Gaussian cylinder of radius r and height h.
⬡ Apply Gauss’ law to relate the charge enclosed by the cylinder and
the net flux through the cylinder’s surface.
⬡ Due to symmetry condition, the electric field at any point must be
radially outward (the charge is positive) which explain that at any
point on the end caps, the field only skims the surface and does not
pierce it.
⬡ As a result, the electric flux through each end cap is zero.
Figure 23-14
Applying Gauss’s Law to Cylindrical Symmetry (Contd.)

Figure 23-14
Sample Problem 23.06 Gauss’s law and an upward streamer in a lightning storm
 2. Applying Gauss’s Law to Planar Symmetry
Learning Objectives:
After studying this chapter you should be able to do the following:
1. Apply Gauss law to derive the electric field magnitude E near a large, flat, non-conducting
surface with a uniform surface charge density σ.
2. For points near a large, flat non-conducting surface with a uniform charge density σ, apply the
relationship be tween the charge density and the electric field magnitude E and also specify the
direction of the field.
3. For points near two large, flat, parallel, conducting surfaces with a uniform charge density σ,
apply the relationship between the charge density and the electric field magnitude E and also
specify the direction of the field.
23-5 Applying Gauss’s Law to Planar Symmetry (Contd.)

Figure 23-17
 2. Applying Gauss’s Law to Planar Symmetry (Contd.)
Two Conducting Plates:
• Let’s consider a thin cross section and infinite conducting plate with
excess positive charge on the surface of the plate as shown in Fig.
23-18a.
• Since the plate is thin and very large, assume that essentially all the
excess charge is on the two large faces of the plate.
• If there is no external electric field to force the positive charge into
some particular distribution, it will spread out on the two faces with a
uniform surface charge density of magnitude σ1.
• As we know that just outside the plate, this charge sets up an electric
field of magnitude E = σ1 /εo.
• Because the excess charge is positive, the field is directed away from the
plate.
• Fig. 23-18b shows an identical plate with excess negative charge Figure 23-18
 2. Applying Gauss’s Law to Planar Symmetry (Contd.)
⬡ Suppose we arrange for the plates of Figs. 23-18a and b to be close to each
other and parallel (see in Fig. 23-18c).
⬡ Since the plates are conductors, the excess charge on one plate attracts the
excess charge on the other plate, and all the excess charge moves onto the
inner faces of the plates as shown in Fig.23-18c.
⬡ With twice as much charge now on each inner face, the new surface charge
density σ on each inner face is twice σ1.
⬡ The electric field at any point between the plates has the magnitude;

Figure 23-18

• This electric field is directed away from the positively charged plate and toward the negatively charged plate.
• Since no excess charge is left on the outer faces, the electric field to the left and right of the plates is zero
because the charges moved when we brought the plates close to each other.
• Eq.23-13 holds well for a finite non-conducting sheet with points close to the sheet and not too near its edges.
• Whereas, Eq.23-14 holds well for a pair of finite conducting plates by considering the points are not too close to
their edges.
Sample Problem 23.07 Electric field near two parallel nonconducting sheets with charge
Sample Problem 23.07 Electric field near two parallel nonconducting sheets with
charge (Contd.)
 3. Applying Gauss’s Law to Spherical Symmetry
Learning Objectives:
After studying this chapter you should be able to do the following:
1. Identify that a shell of uniform charge attracts or repels a charged particle that is outside the
shell as if all the shell’s charge is concentrated at the center of the shell.
2. Identify that if a charged particle is enclosed by a shell of uniform charge, there is no
electrostatic force on the particle from the shell.
3. For a point outside a spherical shell with uniform charge, apply the relationship between the
electric field magnitude E, the charge q on the shell, and the distance r from the shell’s center.
4. Identify the magnitude of the electric field for points enclosed by a spherical shell with uniform
charge.
5. For a uniform spherical charge distribution (a uniform ball of charge), determine the magnitude
and direction of the electric field at interior and exterior points.
3. Applying Gauss’s Law to Spherical Symmetry (Contd.)

Figure 23-20
23-6 Applying Gauss’s Law to Spherical Symmetry
(Contd.)

Figure 23-21
23-6 Applying Gauss’s Law to Spherical Symmetry
(Contd.)
Example: A Spherical Symmetric Charge
Distribution
Example: A Spherical Symmetric Charge Distribution (Contd.)
Example: Field of a Uniform Charged Sphere
Example: Field of an Infinite Plane Sheet Charge
Example: The Electric Field of a Charged
Spherical Shell
Example: The Electric Field of a Charged Spherical
Shell (Contd.)
Example: A Non-Conducting Plane Sheet of Charge
Example: A Non-Conducting Plane Sheet of Charge (Contd.)
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