Surface integral to Lateral integral?

Click For Summary

Homework Help Overview

The discussion revolves around understanding the transition from a surface integral to a lateral integral in the context of using Gauss' Law to find the capacitance of a cylindrical capacitor. The original poster expresses confusion about the mathematical steps involved in the derivation presented in their lecture notes.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification, Mathematical reasoning, Assumption checking

Approaches and Questions Raised

  • Participants explore the implications of the electric field being constant over the surface and its relationship with the surface normal. Questions are raised about the transition from a surface integral to a lateral integral and the role of symmetry in simplifying the calculations.

Discussion Status

Participants are actively engaging with the concepts, providing insights into the nature of the electric field and its effects on the integral. Some guidance has been offered regarding the simplification of integrals due to symmetry, though there is no explicit consensus on all points raised.

Contextual Notes

The original poster notes that the problem involves a cylindrical capacitor and references specific equations related to Gauss' Law, indicating a focus on understanding the mathematical relationships rather than solving the problem outright.

KingBigness
Messages
94
Reaction score
0

Homework Statement


I have some working out my lecture gave me to a problem and I don't think I understand part of it. Hoping you could help me.


It's using Gauss' Law to find the capacitance of a cylindrical capacitor of length L but this information shouldn't matter for my question.

\lambda=\frac{∂q}{∂l}

\oint E \bullet \Delta A = \frac{\sum q}{\epsilon}

He then jumps to.

E \int \Delta A = \frac{\lambda L}{\epsilon}

First question, how does he go from the surface integral to the normal integral? Has it got anything to do with removing the dot product?

He then changes
E \int \Delta A to E(2πrL)

I understand this is taking the integral of dA which becomes A, which is the area of a circle, hence 2πr, but how does he then bring the L into play...would this not be the Volume, not the area?

Thanks for any help.
 
Physics news on Phys.org
could it be that E is constant in the integral and always makes the same angle with the surface normal?

This is generally the best way to make use of Gauss's theorem - exploit the symmetry of the problem to simplify any integrals
 
lanedance said:
could it be that E is constant in the integral and always makes the same angle with the surface normal?

This is generally the best way to make use of Gauss's theorem - exploit the symmetry of the problem to simplify any integrals

So when an angle doesn't change a surface integral can be turned into a lateral integral?
Sorry I haven't done much study on surface integrals so I don't know a lot about them. I'll look into them.
 
so if the relative angle, and field strength both don't change the scalar result of the vector dot product is just EdA, everywhere over the surface. As E is constant, the integral is just E.A
 
lanedance said:
so if the relative angle, and field strength both don't change the scalar result of the vector dot product is just EdA, everywhere over the surface. As E is constant, the integral is just E.A

Perfect sense, thanks so much for that
 

Similar threads

  • · Replies 5 ·
Replies
5
Views
2K
Replies
6
Views
3K
Replies
7
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
  • · Replies 9 ·
Replies
9
Views
2K
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 1 ·
Replies
1
Views
2K
  • · Replies 2 ·
Replies
2
Views
1K
  • · Replies 6 ·
Replies
6
Views
3K
Replies
10
Views
2K