Calculating Electric Flux Through a Cube

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on calculating the electric flux through a cube with a point charge at its center. The total electric flux can be determined using Gauss's Law, which states that the flux through a closed surface is equal to the enclosed charge divided by the permittivity of free space. For a charge of 9.10 nC, the total flux is calculated, and then symmetry is used to find the flux through each face of the cube. The participants express confusion about applying Gauss's Law correctly, particularly regarding the distribution of flux across the cube's faces. Ultimately, understanding the relationship between total flux and individual face flux is crucial for solving the problem.
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Electric Flux of a cube

Homework Statement


A point charge of magnitude 9.10 nC is at the center of a cube with sides of length 0.685 m.

What is the electric flux through each of the six faces of the cube?

What would be the flux Phi_1 through a face of the cube if its sides were of length 0.250 m?

Homework Equations


4*pi*Q


The Attempt at a Solution



I tried 4*pi*9.10 which equals 411 and it says I'm off by an additive constant

I know to do part2, the flux must be found for part1 but I'm not sure if I'm applying gauss's law correctly, I know that you can use symmetry to solve these cube problems but I haven't had a decent example of this type of problem and we already have homework on it.
 
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Hint: What's the total flux through any closed surface that surrounds a charge Q? Once you find the total flux, then use symmetry to find the flux through each side of the cube.
 
Doc Al said:
Hint: What's the total flux through any closed surface that surrounds a charge Q? Once you find the total flux, then use symmetry to find the flux through each side of the cube.

Is the flux on any surface that surrounds a charge Q => Qenclosed / Eo
 
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stylez03 said:
Is the flux on any surface that surrounds a charge Q => Qenclosed / Eo
Yes it is.
 
Doc Al said:
Yes it is.

Though with this, knowledge, I'm still not sure how to figure out the flux on each side of the cube.
 
Start by figuring out which side has the most flux passing through it. :wink:
 
hummm is it Q/Eo/6?
 

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