학술논문
Discovery-based Gauss's law
Document Type
Author Abstract
Author
Source
American Journal of Physics. Oct, 2004, Vol. 72 Issue 10, p1272, 4 p.
Subject
Language
English
ISSN
0002-9505
Abstract
(Received 7 October 2003; accepted 21 May 2004) The mathematical parallels between electrostatics and laminar fluid flow are exploited to develop a set of problems that lead introductory physics students to discover Gauss's law. The primary fluid experiment involves examining the flow between two closely spaced plates and the continuity equation in two dimensions. The extrapolation of the two-dimensional velocity field to three dimensions yields a radial dependence that is analogous to Coulomb's law. This analogy allows the student to predict an electrical version of the continuity equation equivalent to Gauss's law. [DOI: 10.1119/1.1773174]