Gauss' Law

• Electric charges are free to move around in and on a conductor, which leads to these consequences:
  • The charge density on the surface of a conductor is uniform
  • The electric field just above the surface of a conductor is uniform, and points perpendicular to the surface
  • The electric field INSIDE a conductor is zero
• Gauss' Law relates the charge within a closed surface to the electric flux through that surface
• Problems with strong symmetry are good candidates for solution via Gauss' Law:
  • large flat planes covered uniformly with charge
  • spheres or cylinders covered uniformly with charge
  • lines of uniform charge density

Viewgraph 1

Viewgraph 2

Viewgraph 3

Viewgraph 4

Viewgraph 5

Viewgraph 6

Viewgraph 7

Viewgraph 8

Viewgraph 9

Viewgraph 10

Viewgraph 11

Viewgraph 12

Viewgraph 13

Viewgraph 14

Viewgraph 15

Copyright © Michael Richmond. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons License.