Gauss's Law
Claimed by Kel Johnson
One of Maxwell's Equations, formulated by Carl Friedrich Gauss. Gauss's Law, also known as Gauss's flux theorem, discusses the relationship between electric charge and the surrounding field caused by the charge.
The Main Idea
The idea of Gauss's Law is that the electric flux out of a closed surface is equivalent to the charge enclosed, divided by the permittivity (often written using 'Epsilon'). There is a near identical law to this law, known as Gauss's law for Magnetism. The variation found is that magnetic fields are used instead of electric fields in the calculations. Also, Gauss's Law for Gravity is very similar as well. To state it again, the electric flux passing through a closed surface is the same as the charge enclosed, divided by permittivity of the surface. This implies that the electric flux is proportional to the total charge enclosed. Any closed surface can be have Gauss's Law applied to it. For symmetrically shaped objects, Gauss's Law greatly simplifies calculation of electric field enclosed by surface.
A Mathematical Model
A very helpful and clear summary of this Law can be found here. Gaulaw.gif
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What are the mathematical equations that allow us to model this topic. For example [math]\displaystyle{ {\frac{d\vec{p}}{dt}}_{system} = \vec{F}_{net} }[/math] where p is the momentum of the system and F is the net force from the surroundings.
A Computational Model
How do we visualize or predict using this topic. Consider embedding some vpython code here Teach hands-on with GlowScript
Examples
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See also
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Further reading
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External links
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References
http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/gaulaw.html