Mirpur University of Science and Technology

Applied Physics
Electric Fields
Dr. Anwar Ul Haq

Week 3

Department of Electrical Engineering

Mirpur University of Science and Technology
 Mirpur University of Science and Technology

Chapter Contents

• The Electric Field

• Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential
• Capacitance and Energy Storage

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The Electric Field

• An electrically charged object sets up a force field
around it; this force field is known as an electric field.
• To help visualize an electric field, look at a group of
grass seeds suspended in a fluid (see figure below).

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The Electric Field

• In figure (a) there is no net electric charge, and hence
no electric field. The seeds point in random directions.
• In figure (b), the seeds line up in the direction of the
electric field. Each seed experiences an electric force,
and the force causes it to align with the field.
• The standard way to draw electric fields is shown in the
figure on the next slide. Here a positive charge +Q is
shown at the center of figure (a) and a negative charge
–Q is shown at the center of figure (b).

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The Electric Field

• The direction of an electric field is away from a positive

charge and toward a negative charge.
• E= Electric Field, F = Electrostatic force
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The Electric Field

• A small positive test charge (+q0) at location A in the
preceding figure experiences a force that is in the same
direction as E.
• A small negative test charge (−q0) at location B
experiences a weaker force (since it's farther away from
the central charge) that is in the opposite direction from
E.
• Because the force on a positive charge is in the same
direction as the electric field, we always use positive
test charges to determine the direction of E.

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The Electric Field

• You've just seen the connection between the direction of
the electric field and the direction of the electric force.
How do we determine the magnitude of the electric
field?
• By definition, the magnitude of the electric field is the
electric force per charge:

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The Electric Field

• In this definition it is assumed that the test charge is
small enough that it does not disturb the position of any
other charges in the system.
• You will sometimes be given the electric field E at a
given location and be asked to determine the force a
charge q experiences at that location. This can be done
as follows:
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The Electric Field

• Perhaps the simplest example of an electric field is the field
produced by a point charge. Figure (a) below shows a point charge
at the origin.

• If a small test charge q0 is placed at a distance r from the origin, the

force it experiences is directed away from the origin and has a
magnitude given by Coulomb's law:
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F = kq1q0/r2
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The Electric Field

• Applying the definition of the electric field, E = F/q0, we
find that the magnitude of the electric field is
E = F/q0 = kq/r2
• As you can see, the electric field due to a point charge
decreases with the inverse square of the distance. In
general, the electric field a distance r from a point
charge q has the following magnitude:

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The Electric Field

• The electric field points away from a positive point
charge. And as the figure below shows, the electric field
points toward a negative point charge.

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The Electric Field

• The electric field due to a point charge decreases
rapidly as the distance from the charge increases. The
field never actually goes to zero, however. On the other
hand, the electric field increases as the distance gets
closer to zero. Thus, the closer you get to an electric
charge, the stronger its electric field.

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The Electric Field

• When a system consists of
several charges, the total electric
field is found by superposition—
that is, by calculating the vector
sum of the electric fields due to
the individual charges.

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The Electric Field

• Many aquatic creatures are capable of producing electric
fields. For example, some freshwater fish in Africa can
use their specialized tail muscles to generate an electric
field. They are also able to detect variations in this field as
they move through their environment. This assists them in
locating obstacles, enemies, and food.
• Much stronger fields are produced by electric eels and
electric skates. The electric eel Electrophorus electricus
generates an electric field strong enough to kill small
animals and to stun larger animals.

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The Electric Field

• The following set of rules provides a consistent method
for drawing electric field lines:

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The Electric Field

• The following are examples
of how these rules are
applied.
• In the figure below, the
electric field lines all start at
the positive charge, point
radially outward, and go to
infinity. In addition, the lines
are closer together near the
charge.

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The Electric Field

• The next figure shows the field
produced by a charge of −2q. In
this case, the direction of the field
lines is reversed—they start at
infinity and end on the negative
charge. In addition, the number of
lines is doubled, since the
magnitude of the charge has been
doubled.

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The Electric Field

• Electric fields tend to form specific patterns depending
on the charges involved. A few such patterns, for
various combinations of charges, are shown in the
figure below.

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The Electric Field

• In figure (a), some field lines start on one charge and
terminate on another. Notice also that the field lines are
close together, indicating that the electric field is intense
between the charges.
• In contrast, the field is weak between the charges in
figure (b), where the field lines are widely spaced.

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