Visualizing an Electric Field With HTML5 and WebGL, Part 3: Charge Distributions

Real problems are rarely confined to configurations of point charges. The next step is to work with uniform charge distributions.

A spherical charge distribution enveloping a Gaussian surface.

It is now possible to define spherical charge distributions, which are represented by translucent shapes. This allows other components of the system to be viewed through the charge distribution. This first example is of a spherical charge distribution with inner radius a=20 and outer radius b=50. This charge distribution completely surrounds a Gaussian surface with r=10. It is now possible to zoom in and see that the Gaussian surface does not enclose any charge.

The Gaussian surface completely surrounds the charge.

The other example in this set shows the Gaussian sphere surrounding the charge distribution. Of course it is possible to draw the Gaussian surface at an arbitrary position, and in the long term it will be possible to move and resize elements, so that it will be possible to move the Gaussian surface through the charge distribution, allowing for much more interesting and lively discussions.

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