- #1
Fanta
- 38
- 0
When should I use one and when should I use the other?
For example, suppose I have a rod of length 2L, with an edge on the point -L on the X axis and another on L.
The rod is uniformly charged, with total charge Q>0.
having that said, if i wanted to calculate the electric field in an arbitrary (0,y,0) point, couldn't I use Gauss's law, using a cilinder as my gauss surface?
And if the field is not specifically radial, in order to calculate it for a (x,0,0) point, i would have to integrate using coulomb's law, considering it a continuous distribution, correct?
So, the problem lies within the first problem:
It gives me two different results wether i use the method described(Gauss's law), or if I use coulomb's law for continuous distributions of charge, and integrate from -L to L.
which of the methods is wrong, and why?
For example, suppose I have a rod of length 2L, with an edge on the point -L on the X axis and another on L.
The rod is uniformly charged, with total charge Q>0.
having that said, if i wanted to calculate the electric field in an arbitrary (0,y,0) point, couldn't I use Gauss's law, using a cilinder as my gauss surface?
And if the field is not specifically radial, in order to calculate it for a (x,0,0) point, i would have to integrate using coulomb's law, considering it a continuous distribution, correct?
So, the problem lies within the first problem:
It gives me two different results wether i use the method described(Gauss's law), or if I use coulomb's law for continuous distributions of charge, and integrate from -L to L.
which of the methods is wrong, and why?