Does Gauss' Law Hold for Non-Conservative Electric Fields?

Click For Summary

Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on whether Gauss' Law applies to non-conservative electric fields, particularly those generated by time-varying magnetic fields. Participants explore the relationship between Gauss' Law and other laws of electromagnetism, such as Faraday's Law, in the context of electric field behavior.

Discussion Character

  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants assert that the electric field produced by a time-varying magnetic field is non-conservative and question whether it follows Gauss' Law.
  • One participant argues that Gauss' Law defines only the conservative component of the electric field, while Faraday's Law addresses the non-conservative component, suggesting that the induced electric field does not violate Gauss' Law.
  • Another viewpoint suggests that if the charge enclosed by the surface is constant, Gauss' Law holds true, but if there is a time-varying current, then Faraday's Law is necessary to fully describe the situation.
  • Some participants claim that all electric fields satisfy Gauss' Law, but emphasize that Gauss' Law alone does not provide a complete description of electric fields without considering additional equations that account for curl.
  • There is a reiteration of the initial question regarding the applicability of Gauss' Law to non-conservative fields, with some participants affirming that it does apply.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the applicability of Gauss' Law to non-conservative electric fields, with no consensus reached on whether it fully describes such fields without additional context from other electromagnetic laws.

Contextual Notes

Some claims depend on the definitions of conservative and non-conservative fields, and the discussion reflects varying interpretations of how Gauss' Law interacts with time-varying currents and magnetic fields.

miss photon
Messages
23
Reaction score
0
the electric field produced due to a time varying magnetic field is non-conservative in nature. does it follow gauss law?
 
Physics news on Phys.org
Gauss law does not completely define electric field: it only defines the conservative component. Similary Faraday's law defines the non-conservative component, that gives 0 when integrated over suface of any volume.
So induced electric field is can't be determined by Gauss law, but does not violate Gauss law, because it contributes 0 to both sides od the equation.
 
another way to think about it is that if the charge enclosed in the closed surface referred to by Gauss's Law were constant, then we know that Gauss's Law is accurate and there is no net current that crosses the surface boundary. but there can be a current flowing in that is equal to the current flowing out. if that current is not time variant, then Gauss's Law still works, but if the current flowing into the closed surface remains equal to the current flowing out but they're varying in time, then Gauss's Law needs Faraday's Law to fully describe what's going on. really you need all four of Maxwell's Eqs. to fully describe what's going on.
 
miss photon said:
the electric field produced due to a time varying magnetic field is non-conservative in nature. does it follow gauss law?
All electric fields satisfy Gauss's law.
 
pam said:
All electric fields satisfy Gauss's law.

True. :)

But Gauss's law only gives the divergence... it must be supplemented by an equation giving the curl. So, although all electric fields satisfy Gauss's law, Gauss's law is not enough to determine the fields in all cases.
 
miss photon said:
the electric field produced due to a time varying magnetic field is non-conservative in nature. does it follow gauss law?
Yes....
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
1K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
3K
  • · Replies 29 ·
Replies
29
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
4K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 83 ·
3
Replies
83
Views
5K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 7 ·
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K