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Re: quantum of electric flux?



"John S. Denker" wrote:

.... For starters we agree that the flux through a
_closed_ surface just tells us the amount of charge
inside, so that's quantized. In contrast, now consider
the surface bounded by a loop. The flux through that
loop (i.e. through that surface) is not quantized. ....

I understand that Gauss's law leads you to the idea that
the total E flux is quantized (because each part of Q is
quantized). And I can visualize a loop on the surface
pierced by the total flux. For example, a loop of one
steradian on a sphere centered on a point charge.

But the idea that the total flux is quantized while any
part of it is continuos (not quantized) is hard to
swallow. It is like saying that the total charge in a
room is quantized but in one half that room it is not.

How can it be? Is it supposed to be a paradox?
Ludwik Kowalski