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You and your friend are working in a lab and wish to measure the surface charge

ID: 1513154 • Letter: Y

Question

You and your friend are working in a lab and wish to measure the surface charge density on a slab of metal. The slab is very long and very wide, but flat. You begin adding up the field line flux through a cylindrical Gaussian surface that passes through the slab as in (Figure 1) . Your friend begins adding up the field line flux through a cubical Gaussian surface that passes through the slab. Her cube is a little shorter than your cylinder, and it is wider than your cylinder. Part A Will the two of you still obtain the same result for the surface charge density? Will the two of you still obtain the same result for the surface charge density?

Yes or No

Explanation / Answer

Yes both are same. Gaussian surface is an imaginary surface. The physical situation is same here.So the charge density will be same.It does not depend whether we take cubic or cylindrical gaussian surface.