Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Verified for the 2026 exam
Verified for the 2026 exam•Written by the Fiveable Content Team • Last updated September 2025
Definition
q_enc refers to the charge enclosed within a closed surface. It represents the net charge contained within a given region.
Related terms
Electric Flux: Electric flux measures the flow of electric field through a given surface. It quantifies how many electric field lines pass through a particular area.
Gauss's Law relates the electric flux passing through a closed surface to the total charge enclosed by that surface. It provides an elegant way to calculate electric fields using symmetry.
Closed Surface: A closed surface is any boundary that completely encloses an object or region in space. It can be imaginary or physical, and it helps us analyze electric fields and charges within that region.