Electric field inside a sphere of charge

AI Thread Summary
To find the electric field inside a charged sphere, Gauss's Law is applied by considering a smaller sphere within the charged sphere. The charges outside this inner sphere do not contribute to the electric field because their effects cancel each other out, resulting in a net electric field of zero. This cancellation occurs as the electric field vectors from external charges point in various directions, leading to a vector sum of zero. The total flux through the inner sphere confirms this, reinforcing the concept that only enclosed charge influences the electric field inside. Understanding this principle is crucial for grasping electrostatics in spherical charge distributions.
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So I understand that to find the electric field inside a sphere of charge you can use Gauss's Law by drawing a sphere inside, enclosing the charge. But, intuitively, I don't understand it.. why don't the charges outside this sphere contribute to the electric field? I know the total flux through the sphere you've drawn will be zero, but I don't know, it just doesn't make sense visually to me.
 
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The fields due to the charges outside the sphere all point in different directions. The vector sum of these fields, as it turns out, adds up to zero.
 

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