Verified Solution • 2025–26 Session moderate

QPages 140-141: Q5: HC Verma: Concepts of Physics - Volume 2 Gauss's Law Pages 140-141: Q5 Solution: An electric dipole is placed at the centre of a sphere. Mark…

⚠️ Common Exam Traps & Conceptual Pitfalls

Students often conflate Gauss’s law’s statement that the net flux through a closed surface is zero with the implication that the electric field must vanish everywhere on that surface. In reality, Gauss’s law only constrains the integral of the normal component of the field; the field can be non‑zero but symmetric so that the contributions cancel. For a dipole at the centre of a sphere, the field is non‑zero at every point (even on the equatorial circle where the radial component vanishes, the tangential component remains), yet the total flux through the sphere is zero because the enclosed charge is zero.

An electric dipole is placed at the centre of a sphere. Mark the correct options.

Multiple Choice Options

  • A The flux of the electric field through the sphere is zero.
  • B The electric field is zero at every point of the sphere.
  • C The electric field is not zero anywhere on the sphere.
  • D The electric field is zero on a circle on the sphere.

Step-by-Step Verified Solution

**Answer:** (a), (c). **Step-by-Step Explanation:** For a dipole at the centre of a sphere, the net enclosed charge is zero, so flux is zero (a). The field is not zero anywhere on the sphere (c).

All Questions in this Chapter

QPage 139: Q1 QPage 139: Q2 QPage 139: Q3 QPage 139: Q4 QPage 139: Q5 QPage 139: Q6 QPage 139: Q7 QPages 139-140: Q1 QPages 139-140: Q2 QPages 139-140: Q3 QPages 139-140: Q4 QPages 139-140: Q5 QPages 139-140: Q6 QPages 139-140: Q7 QPages 140-141: Q1 QPages 140-141: Q2 QPages 140-141: Q3 QPages 140-141: Q4 QPages 140-141: Q5 QPages 140-141: Q6 QPages 140-141: Q7 QPages 140-141: Q8 QPages 141-142: Q1 QPages 141-142: Q2 QPages 141-142: Q3 QPages 141-142: Q4 QPages 141-142: Q5 QPages 141-142: Q6 QPages 141-142: Q7 QPages 141-142: Q8 QPages 141-142: Q9 QPages 141-142: Q10 QPages 141-142: Q11 QPages 141-142: Q12 QPages 141-142: Q13 QPages 141-142: Q14 QPages 141-142: Q15 QPages 141-142: Q16 QPages 141-142: Q17 QPages 141-142: Q18 QPages 141-142: Q19 QPages 141-142: Q20 QPages 141-142: Q21 QPages 141-142: Q22 QPages 141-142: Q23 QPages 141-142: Q24

Related Learning Resources & Exam Preparation

Chapter Practice Bank
Practice all topic-wise questions from Gauss's Law
Reference Textbook Solutions
Explore complete chapter exercises for HC Verma: Concepts of Physics - Volume 2
Competitive PYQ Question Bank
Browse year-wise authentic previous years' questions with solutions
Authentic CBT Mock Tests
Simulate official exam environment with live timer and percentile scoring