Гѓngulo Sгіlido Вђ“ Arnold 2.2.3 ›

Arnold uses the solid angle to prove qualitatively: Point Inside : If is inside a closed surface , the surface surrounds entirely. The total solid angle subtended by is the full surface area of the unit sphere, which is Result : Point Outside : If is outside , any ray from

g⃗=−GMr2r⃗rmodified g with right arrow above equals negative the fraction with numerator cap G cap M and denominator r squared end-fraction the fraction with numerator modified r with right arrow above and denominator r end-fraction The flux of this field through a surface is directly proportional to the solid angle subtended by . Specifically, for a point mass at the origin, the flux through ГЃngulo sГіlido – Arnold 2.2.3

force) where the potential is related to the surface area of a unit sphere "covered" by an object when viewed from a point. The solid angle Ωcap omega subtended by a surface at a point is defined as the area of the projection of onto the unit sphere centered at Mathematically, for a small surface element at a distance , the differential solid angle Arnold uses the solid angle to prove qualitatively:

: This geometric approach explains why a hollow spherical shell exerts no gravitational force on a particle inside it: the solid angles subtended by opposite parts of the shell cancel out exactly because the force falls off as while the surface area grows as r2r squared The solid angle Ωcap omega subtended by a