 The flux visualized. The rings stand for the surface boundaries. The red arrows stand for the flow of charges, fluid particles, subatomic particles, photons, etc. The number of arrows that pass through each ring is the flux. Flux (also "net flux") is the rate at which something flows through a surface. The amount of sunlight that lands on a patch of ground each second is a kind of flux. The magnitude of a river's current, that is, the amount of water that flows through a cross-section of the river each second is another kind of flux. In the most general terms, flux is a measure of passage: that is, how much stuff passes through an area in a period of time. Wikipedia does not have an article with this exact name. ...
Meaning of flux To better understand the concept of flux, imagine a butterfly net. The amount of air moving through the net at any given instant in time is the flux. If the wind is blowing hard, then the flux through the net is larger than before. If the net is made bigger, then the flux would be larger. For the most air to move through the net, the opening of the net must be facing the direction the wind is blowing. If the net is parallel to the wind, then no wind will be moving through the net; it will all be moving past it instead.
As a mathematical concept, flux is represented by the surface integral of a vector field, In mathematics, a surface integral is a definite integral taken over some surface that may be a curved set in space; it can be thought of as the double integral analog of the path integral. ...
Vector field given by vectors of the form (-y, x) In mathematics a vector field is a construction in vector calculus which associates a vector to every point in Euclidean space. ...
 where K is a constant, F is a vector density, dA is the area element of the surface S, and Φf is the resulting flux. This article explains the meaning of area as a physical quantity. ...
Pictorially (see image at right), the flux is a flow. The number of red arrows passing through a unit area is the vector density, the curve encircling the red arrows denotes the boundary of the surface, and the orientation of the arrows with respect to the surface denotes the inner product of the vector density with the orientation vectors of the surface area elements. In mathematics, an inner product space is a vector space with additional structure, an inner product, scalar product or dot product, which allows us to introduce geometrical notions such as angles and lengths of vectors. ...
We can apply this mathematic definition to many disciplines in which we see currents or forces applied through areas.
Flux in biology In biology, flux refers to the movement of molecules across a membrane; the rate of diffusion of a substance across a permeable membrane. Net flux is directly proportional to the concentration difference across the membrane, the surface area of the membrane, and the membrane permeability constant. Main article: Life There are many universal units and common processes that are fundamental to the known forms of life. ...
Diffusion is the spontaneous spreading of something such as particles, heat, or momentum. ...
A membrane is a thin, typically planar structure or material that separates two environments. ...
Concentration is a very common concept used in chemistry and related fields. ...
This article explains the meaning of area as a Physical quantity. ...
Permeability has several meanings: In electromagnetism, permeability is the degree of magnetisation of a material in response to a magnetic field. ...
Flux in chemistry
Diffusion Flux, or diffusion, for gaseous molecules can be related to the function:  where N is the total number of gaseous particles, k is Boltzmann's constant, T is the relative temperature in kelvins, and σab is the mean free path between the molecules a and b.
Thermal systems In thermal systems, the flux is the rate of heat flow.
Flux in physics
Maxwell's equations The flux of electric and magnetic field lines is frequently discussed in electrostatics. This is because in Maxwell's equations in integral form involve integrals like above for electric and magnetic fields. For instance, Faraday's law of induction in integral form is: In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an electric charge that exerts a force on charged objects in its vicinity. ...
In physics, a magnetic field is an entity produced by moving electric charges (electric currents) that exerts a force on other moving charges. ...
Electrostatics is the branch of physics that deals with the force exerted by a static (i. ...
Maxwells equations are the set of four equations, attributed to James Clerk Maxwell, that describe the behavior of both the electric and magnetic fields, as well as their interactions with matter. ...
Faradays law of induction gives the relation between the rate of change of the magnetic flux through the area enclosed by a closed loop and the electric field induced along the loop: where E is the induced electric field, ds is an infinitesimal element of the closed loop and...
 A consequence of Faraday's law is that a change in the magnetic flux through a loop of wire will create an electric potential difference in that wire. This is the basis for inductors and many electric generators. Electric potential is the potential energy per unit charge associated with a static (time-invariant) electric field, also called the electrostatic potential, typically measured in volts. ...
An inductor is a passive electrical device that stores energy in a magnetic field, typically by combining the effects of many loops of electric current. ...
Generator redirects here. ...
Electromagnetic radiation For electromagnetic radiation, the flux of the Poynting vector through a surface is the power, or energy per unit time, passing through that surface. Electromagnetic radiation or EM radiation is a combination (cross product) of oscillating electric and magnetic fields perpendicular to each other, moving through space as a wave, effectively transporting energy and momentum. ...
The Poynting vector (named after its inventor John Henry Poynting) is the cross product of the electric field and the magnetic field. ...
Mechanical power In physics, power (symbol: P) is the amount of work W done per unit of time t. ...
8:17 am, August 6, 1945, Japanese time. ...
Fluid systems In fluid systems the flux is the rate of fluid flow. In fluid dynamics, the rate of fluid flow is the volume of fluid which passes through a given area per unit time. ...
In fluid dynamics, flux is a physical rate process defined as the rate of flow or transfer of a physical quantity through an area per time. It is a key concept used in understanding fluid dynamics and related transport phenomena.
There are three basic fluxes used in the study of transport phenomena. Each type of flux has its own distinct unit of measurement along with distinct physical constants. The three basic forms of flux are defined as:
- Momentum flux, the rate of momentum in and out of the system.
- Heat flux, the rate of heat transfer.
- Mass flux, the rate of mass transfer.
When dealing with one-dimensional flux, the fundamental laws that govern this process include: Dimension (from Latin measured out) is, in essence, the number of degrees of freedom available for movement in a space. ...
- Newton's Law of Viscosity
- Fourier's Law of Convection
- Fick's Law of Diffusion.
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