Electric Flux
- Flux:
Let’s quantify previous discussion about field-line “counting”
Define: electric flux FE through the closed surface S
What does this new quantity mean?
- The integral is an integral over a CLOSED SURFACE
- The result (the net electric flux) is a SCALAR quantity
- Therefore, the electric flux through a closed surface is the sum of the normal components of the electric field all over the surface.
- Pay attention to the direction of the normal component as it penetrates the surface…is it “out of” or “into” the surface?
- “Out of is “+” “Into” is “-”