APC PHYSICS CHAPTER 24 GAUSS’ LAW al Student Notes 244 A New Look at Coulomb’s Law We will now look at another formulation of Coulomb’s Law developed by Carl Friedrich Gauss called Gauss’s Law. Gauss’s Law is used qualitatively to get a rough picture of the electric field generated by some charge distribution. The law can be used quantitatively to solve for the electric field generated by some charge distribution. In order to keep the math simple, we deal with a symmetrical hypothetical closed surface called a Gaussian Surface. These will usually be in the shape of a sphere, a cylinder or a cube, but will always be a closed surface. Gauss’ Law relates the electric field at points on the closed Gaussian surface with the net charge enclosed by that surface. For example, the diagram to the right shows a hypothetical spherical Gaussian surface surrounding some charge distribution. Even without Gauss’s Law we know that if the onhetial field lines are of uniform magnitude and point radial outwards that the surface surrounds a ? positive charge. With Gauss’s Law we can calculate the magnitude of the charge if we know how much FLUX, a fancy name for field lines, passes through the surface! 24-2 FLUX Lets start out by using an analogy that is a little more visual than electric fields. Suppose I had a stream water flowing to the right as shown and I place a square picture frame in the flow. What factors would determine how much water passed through the frame in any given time? AThe first two things should be obvious: 1) The rate of water flow, lets call that vector V. 2) The Area of the frame, which we will also make a vector quantity with a direction defined as normal to the plane of the frame! Let this be A. The amount of water passing through the frame would then be the product of V and A. We can call this the water flux, and flux is represented using the Greek letter Phi, ©. This then gives the formula: @ = VA (flux amount is a scalar quantity) But what happens if we tilt the frame so that it is not normal to the water flow This will reduce the amount of water eae passing through the frame so a directional component is needed in out formula. We measure the angle between the two vectors V and A (remember the direction of A is perpendicular to the plane), so we need the, component of V parallel to A. In our first aces drawing © was 0°. If the frame is tilted ——— Parallel to the water flow 8 = 90°, so the Seer equation now beomes: ® = VA cos(6)! — Look familiar? Its our old friend the dot product and we can write the flux 7 equation as ® = VeA —_——_—_——_ Now to change this to electrical terms. The velocity is replaced with the field intensity E giving: ® = EeA = EA cos(6)24-3 Flux and the Gaussian Surface y ‘Now suppose we wish to find the flux of the electric field through an arbitrary closed surface as shown to the right. We will divide the surface into tiny vector areas, AA, each small enough that we can assume all of the flux passing through the area is parallel. ‘The flux trough each area would then be EeAA To get the total flux we add up the flux through all of the small areas so: O= TEA Note - If 0 is greater than 90° (flux heading in) it means the sign of the flux is negative, if 90° _ no flux passes through the square, and if @ is less than 90° (flux passing out) the sign of the flux is positive. We now allow the size of AA to approach zero (uh oh!), approaching the differential limit dA. The sum then becomes an integral giving: (The circle indicates integration is taken over the @O= g EedA entire surface) Note- This means that the flux © passing through a surface is directly proportional to the net number of field lines passing through a surface, which is directly proportional to the field intensity E. Example 24-1) The diagram to the right shows a Gaussian surface in the form of a cylinder of radius R, immersed in an electric field E, with the cylinder axis parallel to the field. What is the flux © of the electric ficld through this closed surface?To solve we must break this down into 3 surfaces, left end cap (L), right end cap (R) and sides of cylinder (S), find the flux through each and add them up. @=$Eedd=| edd, +[ Bods, +| Bed, [ Bedd, = | E(cos180)d4 = J £edA, = | E(cos90)d4 = [ Boddy = | E(cos0)d4 = O= Example 24-2) _A nonuniform electric field given by the equation E = 3.0xi+4.0j pierces the Gaussian cube shown to the right. nusan Find the electric flux through: a) The right face b) The left face ©) The top24-4 Gauss’s Law Gauss’s Law relates the net flux © of an electric field through a closed (Gaussian) surface, and the charge enclosed by the surface, qu. = Gene Qene a. 0 As we saw in example 1, any charge (thus field) outside of the surface creates a net flux of zero, therefore only enclosed charges create net flux on the gaussian surface. The dug is the net charge enclosed by the surface, and signs are important as they indicate the direction of flux. If the net flux is + this means the flux is passing out of the surface and q,,, must be +. If the net flux is - then it is passing into the surface and qj. must be -. Examine the system of two equal charges, one + and one -, shown to the right. Four Gaussian surfaces have be created. What is the sign of the flux on surface 1? What is the sign on the charge enclosed by surface 1? ‘What is the sign of the flux on surface 2? ‘What is the sign on the charge enclosed by surface 2? What is the net flux on surface 3? What is the net flux on surface 4? How would these values change is a large + charge is brought close to the system but remains outside of surface 4?Example 24-3) The system shown to the right is made up of five charged lumps of clay and a neutral quarter. 3.1 0C =q5=-5.9 nC =-3.10C What is the electric flux through the Gaussian surface shown. 24-5 Gauss’ Law and Coulombs Law #,fEedd=q But E is always 1 to dA, and E is constant 6,4 dd=q at all values of r so: 5,E(4ir?) =q The integral is now merely the sum of all the dAs or pet nr? giving: If Gauss’s Law is really equivalent to Coulomb’s Law we should be able to derive one from the other. Suppose we take a small positive charge qand enclose it with a spherical Gaussian surface a distance r from the charge. Ans, r*24-6 Charged Isolated Conductor ‘ a) Field Inside a Charged Conductor: When excess charge is placed on a conductor, the charge always collects on the outer surface, This means that no matter what the shape, if a Gaussian surface is created inside the outer surface it will enclose no charge, so the field in the charged conductor must be Zero! b) Field External to the Conductor: We can now use Gauss’s Law to determine the strength of an electric field on the outside surface of a statically charged conductor. Lets assume that we have an large metal sphere carrying a+ charge. The charge will be distributed on the outer surface, and the field lines will radiate out 1 to the surface. If we place a Gaussian surface in the shape of a cylinder through the metal surface of the sphere we can determine the flux passing through the cylinder. No flux passes through the inside cap because there is no field there. Outside the metal sphere the flux is parallel to the edge of the cylinder so the only flux passing through the surface is going through the far cap. Using Gauss’ Law €,D = aE edd=q ene Since E and dA are 1, and q= cA «EBA=0A So: Field at outer surface of a charged conductor!Example 24-4) —_A metal ball with a diameter of 5.0 cm is charged by the addition of 5x10" excess electrons. a) — Whatis the surface charge density of the sphere? b) What is the magnitude and direction of the electric field at the surface of the ball? 24-7 Applying Gauss’ Law: 1) Cylindrical Symmetry Lets take an infinitely long charged rod r and use Gauss’ Law to find the field intensity at a distance r from the rod. Pick a Gaussian surface that matches the symmetry of the problem. In this case a oylinder will work nicely. We will choose a cylinder with a radius of r and a length of L The charge enclosed by the cylinder will be q=aL. The flux at the end caps is parallel to the cap so the only flux leaving the surface is through the sides of the cylinder. Eis 1 to the sides so: @=EA=E(2m)L €, EQm)L=q= aL a Field near a charged rod E= ae Note-E a Wt TESTExample 24-5) The visible portion of a lightning bolt is preceded by an invisible stage (called a leader) in which a column of electrons extending from the cloud to the ground, ionizing the air molecules along the way. The linear charge density along the cohumn is typically -1x10 C/m. Once this leader reaches the ground electrons are dumped rapidly to the ground along the column causing the brilliant flash. If air molecules generally ionize in field exceeding 3x10° N/C, What is the thickness of the lightning bolt? 1) Planar Symmetry Suppose we had a large nonconducting sheet of plastic carrying a+ charge. The uniform surface charge density is 5. We should be able to use Gauss” Law to determine the electric field at any distance r from the surface of the sheet. Lets again chose a cylindrical Gaussian surface with end caps of area A. We let the cylinder pierce the sheet so that E is 1 to the end caps. The flux passing through the right end cap ‘ 7 : will be E'dA, or just E dA (0 = 0). But the ai same amount of flux passes through the left : . end cap so the ae ee total flux pay. : ¥ through the © = pPdd= 28a <— —- cylinder is: « ¥ > so: EB = dey, = 9A : * oe €,2HA = oA + pe & 2e,Tl) Two Conducting Plates ie 6 s, : : . oo , If we give a conducting plate a positive te charge we know that the charge collects on eleal e the outer surface with surface charge density. ¢ a+ > of 6. The field at either side of the plates ++ surface will be E = 6,/e,, pointed away from hoe the plate (remember no field inside, essentially < ee > 4 charge on each side) * If we put the same magnitude of ae fea negative charge on an identical metal plate we ee get the same magnitude of field, E = 6,/e,, but | pointed towards the plate. esusnedlPeiteha| Patextatet If we now move the two plates close to —+)- +e one another each plate will attract the others : charge to the side nearest it, doubling the surface charge density and thus the field intensity. 2] 28) ae e z The electric field between the plates becomes a = eaceaaaeeel constant E = i: ; Be 24 _ 0 oe + €, 6, ; t z j}¢—_____} z 3 z Example 24-6) The plates shown above carry a +/- charge of 20 uC and have dimensions of 2 cm by 10cm, What is the magnitude of the electric field between the plates?Example 24-7) The diagram to the right shows 9 two large parallel non-conducting plates with charge placed on one side. The surface charge density of the positive sheet is 6.8 .C/m? and that of the negative sheet is 4.3 4C/m?. Find the net electric field: a) To the left of the plates. b) Between the plates. ©) To the right of the plates. IV) Spherical Symmetry Finally, we can use Gauss’s Law to prove shell theorems The diagram to the right shows a spherical shell containing a charge of q, all located at a radius of R. Lets use Gauss’s Law to determine the electric field at a distance r from the center. We set up a spherical Gaussian surface at r (S1). FEFESES ETE EP EP EPEEEGauss’ Law af EedA=q But E is constant at r, and 6 = 0 2,Eqdd=q Area of spherical surface = 4m? 6,E4a@r =q Field is exactly the same as if all of the charge E-—4 were concentrated at the center! 4ne,r? Likewise, if we work at surface s2 there is no enclosed charge within our gaussian surface so E = 0! Example 24-8) The nucleus of a gold atom has a radius of R = 6.2x10"5 m anda positive E (10?" Nic) charge of Ze, where z = the atomic number of gold, 79. Assuming that the nucleus is spherical, and has a uniform volumetric charge distribution, plot the magnitude of the electric field from the center of the nucleus to a distance of twice the radius. 5 10 16 = 205 r (108m)