Advertisements
Advertisements
Question
Find out the outward flux to a point charge +q placed at the centre of a cube of side ‘a’. Why is it found to be independent of the size and shape of the surface enclosing it? Explain.
Advertisements
Solution
Let a cube of side a enclose charge +q at its centre.
Because the electric flux through the square surface is `phi=q/(6in_0)`the square surfaces of cube are six. Hence, according to Gauss’s theorem in electrostatics, the total outward flux due to a charge +q of a cube is
`phi=6xx(q/(6in_0))=q/in_0`
The result shows that the electric flux passing through a closed surface is proportional to the charge enclosed. In addition, the result reinforces that the flux is independent of the shape and size of the closed surface.
APPEARS IN
RELATED QUESTIONS
What is the electric flux through a cube of side 1 cm which encloses an electric dipole?
What is the net flux of the uniform electric field of previous question through a cube of side 20 cm oriented so that its faces are parallel to the coordinate planes?
Two charges of magnitudes −3Q and + 2Q are located at points (a, 0) and (4a, 0) respectively. What is the electric flux due to these charges through a sphere of radius ‘5a’ with its centre at the origin?
It is said that any charge given to a conductor comes to its surface. Should all the protons come to the surface? Should all the electrons come to the surface? Should all the free electrons come to the surface?
If the flux of the electric field through a closed surface is zero,
(a) the electric field must be zero everywhere on the surface
(b) the electric field may be zero everywhere on the surface
(c) the charge inside the surface must be zero
(d) the charge in the vicinity of the surface must be zero
A charge 'Q' µC is placed at the centre of a cube. The flux through one face and two opposite faces of the cube is respectively ______.
The electric flux through the surface ______.
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
![]() |
| (i) | (ii) | (iii) | (iv) |
The electric field in a region is given by `bar"E" = 4hat"i" + 10hat"j"` N/C. The flux of this field through a square of 10 cm on a side whose plane is parallel to the XZ plane.
A hollow cylinder has a charge of 'q' C within it. If 𝜙 is the electric flux associated with the curved surface B, the flux linked with the plane surface A will be ______.





