Reading

This week, I think you should read chapter 23.  Our next homework will be from chapter 23. I really like the treatment of electrical potential energy and capacitors in the beginning of this chapter. The chapter goes from p 384 to 393. I would suggest reading half of it before tomorrow's class and the rest by Friday.

Up to this point, my expectation is that you would have read chapters 20 and 22.  Chapter 20 contains the subject matter of the first homework assignment; the second homework assignment––the one you doing now––is based in Chapter 22.

We skipped chapter 21 because it involves  the concept of integrating an electric field as it pierces imaginary surfaces surrounding Gaussian volumes. While  Gauss's theorem is powerful and elegant, it presupposes, or requires, a familiarity with, and intuition for, 2-dimensional integrals over vector fields, which seems ambitious. I think it is often skipped in "modern times" as people have began to realize that it involves sophisticated mathematical and geometrical concepts,  which are very difficult to convey without glossing over crucial aspects.  Including this would take time away from the other material  and could lead to superficiality and rushing through other material.

Next week, I  would suggest that you read chapter 24. I will add more here later regarding points of emphasis.  Feel free to post any questions or comments here regarding reading.