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Q.(i) State Gauss's law.

(ii) Using Gauss's law, find the electric field intensity due to an infinitely long, uniformly charged thin straight wire.
(iii) How is Gauss's law obtained from Coulomb's law? OR
(i) On what factors does the capacitance of a parallel-plate capacitor depend?
(ii) In the circuit given below, find the equivalent capacitance C_AB between points A and B.
a capacitor bridge network of 6, 9, 12 and 18 microfarad capacitors with a 2 microfarad bridge capacitor between A and B — Class 12 Physics electrostatics question
Figure
Tripura TbseHigher Secondary (+2 Stage) Examination 2024Subjective· 5mImportance★★★★★
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Gauss's law says total flux = enclosed charge / ε0; applying it to an infinite charged wire with a cylindrical surface gives E = λ/(2πε0 r); and applying it to a single point charge using Coulomb's law shows Gauss's law is a direct, more general consequence of Coulomb's inverse-square law.

(i) Gauss's law: The total electric flux through any closed surface (a 'Gaussian surface') equals 1/ε01/\varepsilon_0 times the total charge enclosed by that surface:

ΦE=∮E⃗⋅dA⃗=Qencε0\Phi_E = \oint \vec E \cdot d\vec A = \frac{Q_{enc}}{\varepsilon_0}

(ii) Field of an infinitely long, uniformly charged straight wire (linear charge density λ\lambda):

By symmetry, the field at a perpendicular distance rr from the wire is radially outward (for positive λ\lambda) and has the same magnitude at every point on a coaxial cylindrical surface of radius rr and length ll. Choose this cylinder as the Gaussian surface.

  • Flux through the two flat end-caps is zero (E is parallel to them, perpendicular to their area vector).
  • Flux through the curved surface: E×(2πrl)E \times (2\pi r l) (E is everywhere perpendicular to, and constant in magnitude over, the curved surface).

Charge enclosed: Qenc=λlQ_{enc} = \lambda l.

By Gauss's law:

E(2πrl)=λlε0  ⟹  E=λ2πε0rE(2\pi r l) = \frac{\lambda l}{\varepsilon_0} \implies E = \frac{\lambda}{2\pi\varepsilon_0 r}

directed radially outward from the wire (for λ>0\lambda > 0).

(iii) Gauss's law from Coulomb's law: Consider a single point charge qq and a spherical Gaussian surface of radius rr centred on it. By Coulomb's law, the field at every point on this sphere has the same magnitude, E=14πε0qr2E = \dfrac{1}{4\pi\varepsilon_0}\dfrac{q}{r^2}, directed radially (parallel to the area vector everywhere). The flux is: …

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