Electric Field
It is the space around the charge where the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion can be experienced by any other charge.
- Its SI unit is N/C.
- It is a vector quantity.
The electric field produced by the charge Q at point r is given as
- (i)
Force exerted by a charge Q on a charge q is given as
- (ii)
Note - Here charge q also exerts an equal and opposite force on the charge Q.
Using equation (¡) in equation (¡¡) we get
F(r) = q E(r)
Electric Field Intensity
It is defined as the force experienced by unit positive charge at that point.
- Its SI unit is newton per coulomb (N/C).
- It is also a vector quantity.
Some Important Points
- Source Charge (Q) - It produces the electric field.
- Test Charge (q) - It tests the effect of a source charge. Conventionally, it should be taken as positive.
- Electric field due to Q is independent of q because Force F is proportional to Charge q, so the ratio F/q does not depend on q.
- Electric field due to Q is independent on the space coordinate r.
- Electric field due to positive charge will be directed radially outward from the charge.
- Electric field due to a negative charge will be directed radially inwards.
- The magnitude of the force F on the charge q due to charge Q depends only on the distance r of the charge q from Charge Q.
- The magnitude of the electric field E will also depend on the distance r.
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