# Electric Flux

Electric flux means electric field lines passing perpendicularly through a particular surface. It means we only calculate the perpendicular component of electric field passing through a particular surface to calculate electric flux. We calculate the electric flux through a surface shown in Figure 1 with uniform electric field $\vec E$.

The electric flux is the perpendicular component of electric field through the area $A$. The electric field lines make angle $\theta$ with the area vector $\vec A$ and therefore the component of electric field perpendicular to the area (parallel to $\vec A$) is $E_\bot = E \cos \theta$. Therefore the electric flux denoted by $\Phi$ is

$\Phi = AE\cos \theta \tag{1} \label{1}$

If the electric field is not uniform, it's the time to divide the area $A$ into infinitesimal area elements $dA$. The electric field is uniform through the area $dA$ and the electric flux through this area is $d\Phi = dAE \cos \theta$. Therefore we integrate to find the total electric flux through the area $A$.

$\Phi = \int {E\cos \theta {\kern 1pt} dA} \tag{2} \label{2}$

In case of the charge outside the closed surface, the electric flux through the closed surface is always zero. The electric field lines entering a closed surface must come out of the surface and the net electric flux is zero. The Figure 2 shows that the electric field lines entering the closed surface also come out of the surface and the net electric flux is through the closed surface is zero.