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Gauss' Law question

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  • 28-12-2011 9:30pm
    #1
    Smythe
    Registered Users Posts: 434 ✭✭


    Calculate the flux, due to a point charge of 100 nC at the origin, that penetrates a sphere of radius 0.01 m centred at the origin.
    Someone was telling me that this can easily be solved non-mathematically.

    Can anyone explain why that is? I know they were using Gauss' Law.

    Thank you


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    #2
    Smythe
    Registered Users Posts: 434 ✭✭Smythe


    Maybe they simply mean that since a point inside a closed mathematical surface produces an electric flux q/ε0 through this surface, then the answer is simply 100nC/ε


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    #3
    Kohl
    Closed Accounts Posts: 130 ✭✭Kohl


    Smythe wrote: »
    Someone was telling me that this can easily be solved non-mathematically.

    Can anyone explain why that is? I know they were using Gauss' Law.

    Thank you

    The electric flux over a closed surface S is equal to the total charge Q enclosed by the surface divided by e_0, where e_0 = permittivity of free space.
    So your answer would be Q/e_0 I would imagine. I dont think it matters what radius the surface of the sphere is at, in terms of calculating the flux. I think radius only matters if youre trying to calculate the electric field.


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