Flux and Gauss's Law

Example: Water Flow

Suppose water flows through a square surface of area A with a uniform velocity .

We want to define flux as the amount of water that flows through the surface per second. First, notice that the flux depends on the direction of the velocity vector relative to the surface.

Questions

questions

Compare the water flux in the following three situations. Rank the flux in cases (a), (b), and (c), from largest to smallest.

(a)


is perpendicular to the surface

(b)


is at a 45 degree angle to the surface

(c)


is parallel to the surface

If the biggest flux is 1, what is the relative number corresponding to the flux in the other two cases?

Once you're ready, move on to the next section to learn more about flux.


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