Identify the correct statements among the following:(A) Gauss's law i…

The correct answer is Option (3) → (A) and (C) only

Gauss's law relates the net flux through a closed surface to the charge enclosed by it: \( \oint \vec{E}\cdot d\vec{S} = q_{\mathrm{enc}}/\varepsilon_0 \).

(A) Gauss's law is valid for the closed surface only. — Correct. The law is stated for the flux through a closed surface; for an open surface the flux is not fixed by the charge nearby.

(B) It is not possible to derive Gauss's law from Coulomb's law. — Incorrect. Gauss's law follows from Coulomb's law and the superposition principle, using the inverse-square dependence on distance.

(C) The electric field inside a uniformly charged thin spherical shell is zero. — Correct. A Gaussian surface inside the shell encloses no charge, and by symmetry the field is the same at every point of it, so the field is zero.

(D) The flux is contributed by the electric charges outside the closed surface. — Incorrect. Charges outside make as much flux enter the surface as leave it, so they add nothing to the net flux; only the enclosed charge counts.

Statements (A) and (C) are correct, which is Option (3).

NCERT (2026-27):
Gauss’s Law – “… (i) Gauss’s law is true for any closed surface, no matter what its shape or size.”

Gauss’s Law – “… The term q on the right side of Gauss’s law, however, represents only the total charge inside S.”

Field Due to a Uniformly Charged Thin Spherical Shell – “… that is, the field due to a uniformly charged thin shell is zero at all points inside the shell. This important result is a direct consequence of Gauss’s law which follows from Coulomb’s law.”