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
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
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
that enters the volume must also leave it. The "entry" and "exit" patches of the surface subtend the same solid angle but have opposite flux signs (due to the orientation of the normal vector). : The net solid angle (and thus net flux) is 4. Physical Implications
