Electric Field between Parallel Plates
We can find the electric field between the plates using Gauss's Law (just like you did in Project 5). We know that for two parallel plates, there is an electric field in the middle that points directly from the positive plate to the negative plate (except near the edges where the field bends slightly out). Outside of the plates, the electric field is zero because the contributions from the negative and positive plates will cancel.
If we draw a cylinder around the top plate, we can find an expression for the electric field using Gauss's Law. So starting with: ∫→E⋅→dA=Qencϵ0
∫→Ebot⋅→dAbot+∫→Etop⋅→dAtop+∫→Eside⋅→dAside=Qencϵ0
Because the electric field is perpendicular to the dA vector on the side of the cylinder, that part of the electric flux is zero. Since the electric field above the top plate is zero, the electric flux through the top surface is also zero. This leaves only the bottom surface in the equation. ∫→Ebot⋅→dAbot=Qencϵ0