side of Gauss’ s law, however, represents only the total charge inside S. o
o
o
The surface that we choose for the application of Gauss’ s law is called the Gaussian surface. The Gaussian surface can pass through a continuous charge distribution.
Gauss’ s law is useful for the calculation of the electrostatic field for a symmetric system.
Gauss’ s law is based on the inverse square dependence on distance contained in the Coulomb’ s law. Any violation of Gauss’ s law will indicate departure from the inverse square law.