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SquidgyGuff
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I was just wondering why the strength of the electric fields of insulating surface charges like sheets and shells aren't dependent on the distance from the charge according to Gauss's Law?
But Gauss's Law does give the equation for the electric field right? I'm trying to find the electric potential near a spherical shell of charge but in order to find that I need to be able to take the line integral with respect to r (the distance), but that would give me (q/epsilon naught)r. And that doesn't seem right.jtbell said:Maybe the diagram and discussion following this post (particularly post #12) will help:
https://www.physicsforums.com/threads/electron-between-parallel-plates.820676/#post-5151253
It's written in terms of the electric force on a charge (a proton) near the plate, not the electric field, but the basic idea is the same.
Distance independence of electric field strength refers to the principle that the strength of an electric field remains constant regardless of the distance from the source of the field. This means that the electric field strength does not decrease or increase with distance.
Coulomb's Law states that the force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. From this, we can see that as the distance between two charged objects increases, the force between them decreases by the inverse square law. However, the electric field strength remains constant, demonstrating the distance independence principle.
Yes, distance independence of electric field strength applies to all types of electric fields, including uniform and non-uniform fields. As long as the source of the field remains constant, the electric field strength will remain constant regardless of distance.
The distance between two charged objects does not affect the electric field strength. As mentioned earlier, the electric field strength remains constant regardless of distance due to the distance independence principle.
Yes, distance independence of electric field strength can be observed in many real-life situations. For example, the electric field strength around a charged object remains constant regardless of how far away an object is from the source. This can be seen in the behavior of charged particles in an electric field, as they experience the same force regardless of their distance from the source.