Why is electric field always radial?
Why radial?? Cuz it’s symmetric. Charges are assumed to be spherical in shape and hence if you apply Gauss law, assuming a spherical Gaussian surface, the electric field MUST be uniformly distributed. Hence they’re radial.
Where the electric field due to a uniform distribution of charge on a spherical shell is zero?
we know that electric field of an ideal spherical shell with uniformly distributed charge is zero inside the shell and equal to EF of a point charge on its center. when we calculate the EF for a point on the surface of shell,it is equal to half of EF of same point charge EF.
What is the electric field inside a uniformly charged spherical shell?
The charge enclosed inside the spherical shell is 0. Therefore, due to the electric field, the uniformly charged spherical shell is zero at all points inside the shell. Note – Gauss law is widely used in Electrostatics.
What symmetries does the electric field produced by a uniform charge distribution on a spherical shell?
Reasoning Because the charge is distributed uniformly over the spherical shell, the electric field is symmetrical. This means that the electric field is directed radially outward in all directions, and its magnitude is the same at all points that are equidistant from the shell.
Why is the charge distributed uniformly over its surface?
It’s because of the electric field developed around the conductor. If the shape of conductor is regular, the electric field lines are uniformly distributed and hence the charge distribution.
Why is a spherical Gaussian surface appropriate when calculating the electric field of a point charge?
The spherical Gaussian surface is chosen so that it is concentric with the charge distribution. We can use Gauss’s law to find the magnitude of the resultant electric field E at a distance r from the center of the charged shell.
Which charge configuration produces a uniform electric field?
infinite uniformly charged plane
So, an infinite uniformly charged plane generates a uniform electric field.
Why is electric field uniform in parallel plates?
It is precisely because the field strength diminishes like 1/r^2 with distance from a point charge that when a charge is spread uniformly over parallel plates that have a large radius compared to their separation that the field strength over a fairly large part of the region between the plates is nearly uniform.
How is electric field related to spherical symmetry?
The Electric Field If a charge distribution has spherical symmetry, its electric field must have spherical symmetry as well. So two things are true for any spherically symmetric charge distribution: The field is radial. The field only depends on the distance r from the center of the distribution.
What is spherical symmetry of a point charge?
spherical symmetry means strength of electric field is same in magnitude at the surface of imaginary sphere with charge at the centre while in cylinderical symmetry magnitude of electric field is same at the surface of imaginary cylinder with axis coinciding with that of the dipole.
What is the electric field at the center of a sphere?
The electric field is seen to be identical to that of a point charge Q at the center of the sphere. Since all the charge will reside on the conducting surface, a Gaussian surface at r< R will enclose no charge, and by its symmetry can be seen to be zero at all points inside the spherical conductor.
What is the electric field outside a spherical charge distribution?
Note that the electric field outside a spherically symmetrical charge distribution is identical to that of a point charge at the center that has a charge equal to the total charge of the spherical charge distribution. This is remarkable since the charges are not located at the center only.
What is the electric flux of a spherical surface?
The electric flux is then just the electric field times the area of the spherical surface. The electric field outside the sphere (r > R)is seen to be identical to that of a point charge Q at the center of the sphere.
What is the electric field outside a spherical conducting shell?
Hence, we conclude the electric field outside a charged, spherical, conducting shell is the same as that generated when all the charge is concentrated at the centre of the shell. Let us repeat the above calculation using a spherical gaussian surface which lies just inside the conducting shell.