PlanetPhysics/A Cats Meow Application of Gauss Law
If you know the amount of charge contained within a Gaussian surface, then the total flux of the Electric Field generated by the enclosed charge is calculated from Gauss' Law.
As a demonstration, imagine a pair of cats that have charges placed on them by their loyal masters. Although the contours of the cats' elegant frames represent a complicated geometry, calculating the flux is a simple task if the charge on the cats is known. The flux through the Gaussian surface in Figure 1 is given by Gauss' law
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\includegraphics[scale=.6]{Cats.eps}
{\mathbf Figure 1:} Gaussian Surface Encompassing Two Cats
Note that we add the charges in equation (1) because it is the net enclosed charge. For example if the charge on cat 1 is and the charge on the cat 2 is , then the total flux through is
The reverse of this problem is another important result. If we measure the flux through a given Gaussian surface, then we can calculate the amount of enclosed charge.
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edit- ↑ Figure 1, The Cat Clip art is public domain and was downloaded from [ http://www.wpclipart.com/ WP Clipart]