Electric Field Created by a Finite Plate

Join the discussion
Ask a follow-up here, or get your own question answered by working scientists, mathematicians and engineers — people, not an autocomplete.
Real named experts · corrections over time · the nuance an AI answer skips
2 replies · 2K views
Heisenberg7
Messages
101
Reaction score
18
1720091531511.png

Let's assume that we have a finite plate which is at the center of a cartesian coordinate system. Now let's define a point ##r## with coordinates ##(0, 0, z)##. My question is, can we use Gauss's law to find the electric field at this point? The direction of the electric field is going to be up so all the ##x## and ##y## components will cancel out leaving us with only ##z## components of all the electric fields created by the infinitesimal points on the plane. Now, would it be possible for us to create a gaussian surface like a cylinder and calculate the electric field at the point ##r##?

I've seen a video about this and the guy explaining it uses some pretty advanced calculus to find the electric field at the point r. In the end, he gets this equation: $$\vec{E}(\vec{r}) = \frac {Q}{4\pi\epsilon_oab} \arctan(\frac {ab}{2z \sqrt{a^2+b^2+4z^2}})$$
 
Physics news on Phys.org
I guess this is a dumb question because there is basically little to no symmetry (only along the z axis is the electric field pointed upwards).
 
Last edited: