Re: Gauss' Law

[SSHS KPHOX <kphox@MAIL.CCSD.K12.CO.US>]

PHYS-L@lists.nau.edu writes:
> I like the flow analogy, e.g., water flowing through a square.  I
> explain that, though the math works out the same, electric fields
> don't "flow" the same way as does water.
>
> Isn't analogizing light rays to E fields similar to using water?
> Don't the students imagine photons "flowing" through the glass?
>
> Glenn

Thanks for the replies.

I really ended up with "flow" of a mental construct be they field lines or
light rays.
I used water in a river, light through a beaker, and then gravity field
lines and finally electric fields.
It seems to have communicated. We'll see.

Flux has always been a difficult concept, as we all agree, but such an
elegant one. I find the time I spend with here in Gauss-land makes EM
induction so much easier when we get there.

Ken Fox
AP/IB Physics Teacher
Smoky Hill High School
Aurora, CO