Gauss's Law/Informal Explanation/Analogy with Light

Gauss's Law Informal Explanation: Example

Consider a light bulb at the center of a spherical lampshade which is completely transparent.

All the light from the light bulb escapes.

That is, the total light emerging from the lampshade is independent of the radius of the lampshade.

In fact, the total light emerging from the lampshade is also independent of the shape of the lampshade.

All the light gets out, whether the lampshade is spherical or not.

Gauss's Law is an example of the same basic principle.

Sources

• 1990: I.S. Grant and W.R. Phillips: Electromagnetism (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): Chapter $1$: Force and energy in electrostatics: $1.4$ Gauss's Law