Gauss's Law

The total of the electric flux out of a closed

surface is equal to the charge enclosed
divided by the permittivity.

Index
The electric flux through an area is defined as the electric field Electric
multiplied by the area of the surface projected in a plane field
perpendicular to the field. Gauss's Law is a general law applying concepts
to any closed surface. It is an important tool since it permits the
assessment of the amount of enclosed charge by mapping the field
on a surface outside the charge distribution. For geometries of
sufficient symmetry, it simplifies the calculation of the electric
field.

Another way of visualizing this is to consider a probe of area A

which can measure the electric field perpendicular to that area. If
it picks any closed surface and steps over that surface, measuring
the perpendicular field times its area, it will obtain a measure of
the net electric charge within the surface, no matter how that
internal charge is configured.

Applications More formal statement Gauss' law for magnetism

 
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Gauss' Law, Integral Form

The area integral of the electric

field over any closed surface is
equal to the net charge enclosed
in the surface divided by the Index
permittivity of space. Gauss' law
is a form of one of Maxwell's Electric
equations, the four fundamental field
equations for electricity and concepts
magnetism.

Gauss' law permits the evaluation of the electric field in many

practical situations by forming a symmetric Gaussian surface
surrounding a charge distribution and evaluating the electric
flux through that surface.
Applications

 
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Electric Flux
The concept of electric flux is useful in association with Gauss'
law. The electric flux through a planar area is defined as the
electric field times the component of the area perpendicular to
the field. If the area is not planar, then the evaluation of the flux
generally requires an area integral since the angle will be
continually changing.

Index

Electric
field
concepts

When the area A is used in a vector operation like this, it is

understood that the magnitude of the vector is equal to the area
and the direction of the vector is perpendicular to the area.

Magnetic flux

 
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Applications of Gauss' Law

Gauss' law is a powerful tool for the calculation of electric fields
when they originate from charge distributions of sufficient
symmetry to apply it.

Index

Electric
field

Electric
field
concepts

Gauss' Law Gaussian surfaces

If the charge distribution lacks sufficient symmetry for the

application of Gauss' law, then the field must be found by
summing the point charge fields of individual charge elements.
Examples are:

Finite line charge Charged ring Charged disc

 
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