Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law

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written by Corinne A. Manogue and Kerry P. Browne
published by the Paradigms in Physics Program

This small group activity is designed to help upper-division undergraduate students practice using the symmetry arguments necessary for Gauss's Law. Students are asked to find the electric field using Gauss's Law for either a spherically or cylindrically symmetric charged shell of finite thickness and must make explicit symmetry arguments using Proof by Contradiction as part of their solution. The compare and contrast wrap-up discussion on symmetry focuses on the fact that all examples have zero field inside the shell, different answers within the shell, and answers that depend only on the total charge on the shell for points outside the shell.

http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03...

Subjects	Levels	Resource Types
Electricity & Magnetism - Electric Fields and Potential = Electric Field = Gauss' Law Mathematical Tools - Vector Calculus = Vector Field	- Upper Undergraduate	- Instructional Material = Activity = Instructor Guide/Manual

Intended Users	Formats	Ratings
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Access Rights:: Free access
License:: This material is released under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 license.
Rights Holder:: Paradigms in Physics Team
NSF Numbers:: 0618877; 0231194; 9653250; 1023120; 0088901; 0231032
Paradigm ID:: vfgauss
Keywords:: Compare & Contrast, Proof by Contradiction, Small Group Activity, Vector Fields, vfgausshand.pdf, vfgausshand.pdf
Record Creator:: Metadata instance created June 23, 2014 by Lyle Barbato
Record Updated:: August 19, 2020 by Lyle Barbato
Last Update when Cataloged:: August 7, 2014
Other Collections:: The PSRC

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Record Link

<a href="https://www.compadre.org/portal/items/detail.cfm?ID=13302">Manogue, Corinne, and Kerry Browne. Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law. Corvallis: Paradigms in Physics Program, August 7, 2014.</a>

AIP Format

C. Manogue and K. Browne, (Paradigms in Physics Program, Corvallis, 2010), WWW Document, (http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss).

AJP/PRST-PER

C. Manogue and K. Browne, Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law (Paradigms in Physics Program, Corvallis, 2010), <http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss>.

APA Format

Manogue, C., & Browne, K. (2014, August 7). Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law. Retrieved April 23, 2024, from Paradigms in Physics Program: http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss

Chicago Format

Manogue, Corinne, and Kerry Browne. Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law. Corvallis: Paradigms in Physics Program, August 7, 2014. http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss (accessed 23 April 2024).

MLA Format

Manogue, Corinne, and Kerry Browne. Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law. Corvallis: Paradigms in Physics Program, 2010. 7 Aug. 2014. 23 Apr. 2024 <http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss>.

BibTeX Export Format

@misc{ Author = "Corinne Manogue and Kerry Browne", Title = {Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law}, Publisher = {Paradigms in Physics Program}, Volume = {2024}, Number = {23 April 2024}, Month = {August 7, 2014}, Year = {2010} }

Refer Export Format

%A Corinne Manogue %A Kerry Browne %T Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law %D August 7, 2014 %I Paradigms in Physics Program %C Corvallis %U http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss %O text/html

EndNote Export Format

%0 Electronic Source %A Manogue, Corinne %A Browne, Kerry %D August 7, 2014 %T Paradigms in Physics: Gauss's Law %I Paradigms in Physics Program %V 2024 %N 23 April 2024 %8 August 7, 2014 %9 text/html %U http://sites.science.oregonstate.edu/physics/portfolioswiki/doku03d6.html?id=activities:main&file=vfgauss

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