Physics 21900

General Physics II
Electricity, Magnetism and Optics
Lecture 4 – Chapter 15.1-2
The Electric Field

Fall 2015 Semester

Prof. Matthew Jones
 Electrostatic Force and Potential Energy
• So far we have seen that charges exert forces on
one another:
 

 =   Coulomb’s Law

• Energy can be stored in a configuration of
charges: Electric
 
 =  potential

energy
• How does one charge “know” about another
charge when they are not in direct contact?
 The Electric Field

• Michael Faraday was very good at coming up with

ways to describe electric and magnetic fields that
did not rely on just mathematical definitions and
equations.
• There is no “right way” to describe how charges
influence each other.
• The concept of a “field” turns out to be one of the
most fundamental ways of describing Nature…
 The Electric Field
• This time, consider a single charge,  .
• This charge “creates” an electric field in the space
surrounding it… it modifies the properties of space
itself in some way.
• Another charge,  , when placed in the electric field,
feels a force.

 +
 The Electric Field
• The electric field produced by a charge
is a
property only of
and not of other charges
we place in its vicinity.
• We define the electric field in terms of the
electric force that acts on a “test charge”:
 

 =  
̂



 =
 
 Electric Field
• Now we can talk about electric fields that occupy a
region of space.
• We do not need to specify the source of the electric
field. 
q 

• Any charge that is placed in the electric field will

experience a force.
• Units for electric field: Newtons/Coulomb.
 Electric Fields
• When we have multiple sources, the principle of
superposition says that we get to add their
electric fields.
• Just remember that they are vectors:
() =  +  +  + ⋯
• Each  is for a single point charge calculated
using


 =   

where  is a vector from the source
 to the
observation point .
Electric Field Line Diagrams
Electric Field Line Diagrams

Example with like

sign charges!
 Electric Field Lines
Electric Dipole: opposite Two Positive Charges:
signs but equal magnitude with equal magnitude
 Electric Field Lines
Opposite charges with At very large distances, the
unequal magnitudes: electric field is the same as
one produced by a single
point charge with magnitude

= +2 –  = +.

Density of lines is
proportional to the
magnitude of the electric
field.
 Another Example
• What if it isn’t a point charge?
• If the charge distribution is spherically
symmetric, the E-field is the same
– At least it is outside the charge distribution…


(when )
 Another Example
• What is the electric field produced by a large
(ie, “infinitely” large) uniform sheet of charge?
+
+
+
+
Except near the edges
+ (which we assume are
+
+ very far away) the
+ electric field is uniform
+
+ and perpendicular to
+ the surface.
+
+
 Calculating The Electric Field
• For a single point charge (the source) located
at a position  calculate the electric field at a
point  :  !
!" !

This is one way to calculate

 the individual components
 of the electric field vector.

 Example
(#$)
What is  right here,
4 at x=2 cm, y=2 cm?

2
 = 1 &'
2 4
 (#$)
-4 -2
 = −4 &'  = 3 &'
-2

-4
 Example
(#$)
 = 4 #$ +̂ + (1 #$),̂
4  = 4 #$  + 1 #$ 
= 17 #$ = 0.0412 $
2 9:
 = 1 &'
2 4
 (#$)
-4 -2
 = −4 &'  = 3 &'
-2

0
0=    = 5.15 × 103 4⁄'

-4
6
6
 =    = 1.29 × 103 4/'

 Example
(#$)
 = 4 #$ +̂ + (4 #$),̂
4  = 4 #$  + 4 #$ 
= 32 #$ = 0.0566 $
2
 = 1 &' 9<
2 4
 (#$)
-4 -2
 = −4 &'  = 3 &'
-2

0
0=    = −7.94 × 103 4⁄'

-4
6
6
 =    = −7.94 × 103 4/'

 Example
(#$)
 = 1 #$ +̂ + (3 #$),̂
4  = 1 #$  + 3 #$ 
= 10 #$ = 0.0316 $
2
9?
 = 1 &'
2 4
 (#$)
-4 -2
 = −4 &'  = 3 &'
-2

0
0=    = 8.56 × 103 4⁄'

-4
6
6
 =    = 2.57 × 10> 4/'

 Example
(#$)

 9@A@BC
2
 = 1 &' 

2 4
 (#$)
-4 -2
 = −4 &'  = 3 &'
-2

 0 = 0 + 0 + 0 = +5.77 × 103 4/'

6 6 6
 6 =  +  +  = +1.91 × 103 4/'
 Summary
• Electric field due to a point charge:

 =   ̂

• Force on a charge in an electric field:

 =  
• Some special cases to remember
– Spherically symmetric charge distributions
– Infinite uniform sheet of charge
• Remember that the electric field is a vector
– Principle of superposition
– In practice, it is good to be lazy… get a computer to do
all the arithmetic for you.