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In physics (specifically electromagnetism), Gauss's law, also known as Gauss's flux theorem (or sometimes Gauss's theorem), is one of Maxwell's equations. It is an application of the divergence theorem , and it relates the distribution of electric charge to the resulting electric field .
Electric field from positive to negative charges. Gauss's law describes the relationship between an electric field and electric charges: an electric field points away from positive charges and towards negative charges, and the net outflow of the electric field through a closed surface is proportional to the enclosed charge, including bound charge due to polarization of material.
In particular, it represents lines of inverse-square law force. The extension of the above considerations confirms that where B is to H, and where J is to ρ, then it necessarily follows from Gauss's law and from the equation of continuity of charge that E is to D i.e. B parallels with E, whereas H parallels with D.
Gauss's law for gravity is often more convenient to work from than Newton's law. [1] The form of Gauss's law for gravity is mathematically similar to Gauss's law for electrostatics, one of Maxwell's equations. Gauss's law for gravity has the same mathematical relation to Newton's law that Gauss's law for electrostatics bears to Coulomb's law.
Gauss's law for magnetism (∇⋅ B = 0) is not included in the above list, but follows directly from equation by taking divergences (because the divergence of the curl is zero). Substituting (A) into (C) yields the familiar differential form of the Maxwell-Ampère law .
Faraday's law of induction; Fokker–Planck equation; Fresnel equations; Friedmann equations; Gauss's law for electricity; Gauss's law for gravity; Gauss's law for magnetism; Gibbs–Helmholtz equation; Gross–Pitaevskii equation; Hamilton–Jacobi–Bellman equation; Helmholtz equation; Karplus equation; Kepler's equation; Kepler's laws of ...
Gauss's law for magnetism thus states that the net magnetic flux through a closed surface equals zero. The integral and differential forms of Gauss's law for magnetism are mathematically equivalent, due to the divergence theorem. That said, one or the other might be more convenient to use in a particular computation.
While Gauss's law holds for all situations, it is most useful for "by hand" calculations when high degrees of symmetry exist in the electric field. Examples include spherical and cylindrical symmetry. The SI unit of electric flux is the volt-meter (V·m), or, equivalently, newton-meter squared per coulomb (N·m 2 ·C −1).