Practice question · Multiple choice
Gauss’s law holds for any closed surface, but it only helps compute a field when the surface is chosen well. What makes a good choice?
Hints
- Ask what has to be true for to come outside the integral.
- The law is always true; the question is whether it is USEFUL.
Show the answer
D. One matching the symmetry of the charge distribution
Why
Symmetry is what makes the integral trivial. Without it Gauss’s law is still correct and computationally useless, which is why it solves spheres, cylinders and planes and little else.
Practise Electric Field and Gauss's Law
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