An electric field is given by . The electric flux through a surface area lying in the YZ-plane (in SI units) is:
- A
- B
- C
- D
An electric field is given by . The electric flux through a surface area lying in the YZ-plane (in SI units) is:
Correct answer:C
Standard Method
Given: and .
Find: Electric flux through the given surface.
Electric flux is given by the dot product of the electric field vector and the area vector:
Since the surface lies in the YZ-plane, its area vector is along the direction. Therefore,
Only the components along the same direction contribute in the dot product, so
Therefore, the electric flux through the surface is . The correct option is C.
Using the full magnitude of instead of taking the dot product is incorrect because electric flux depends only on the component of the field along the area vector. Use , not unless the vectors are parallel.
Taking the area vector in the wrong direction is incorrect because a surface in the YZ-plane has its normal along the -axis, that is, along . Do not use or for the area vector here.
Adding all components is wrong because only the component parallel to contributes to the flux through this surface. Use only the term while evaluating the dot product.
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