Lecture Notes On Electric Field

Electric field Electric field due to a charge is the space around the charge, in which any other charge
is acted upon by an electrostatic force. Electric field intensity The electric field intensity at a point due to a source charge may be defined as the force experienced per unit positive test charge placed at that point without disturbing the source charge. The electric field is also known as strength of electric field or simply electric field. Consider that a positive test charge q0 experiences a force , when placed at the observation point (the point, where the electric field is to be determined).Then, electric field at the observation point is given by
........ (1)
The idea of taking is that on placing the test charge at the observation point, the source charge will not be disturbed. The electric field at a point is a vector quantity. SI unit of electric field intensity is newton coulomb-1 (NC-1). Another unit of electric field is volt metre-1 (Vm-1). Force on a charge inside an electric field If is the electric field at a point, then b definition, a charge q placed at that point will experience a force given by
Electric field due to a point charge Consider that a point charge +q is placed at the origin O of the coordinate system. Let p be the point, where electric field due to the point charge +q is to be determined. Let be the position vector of the point P. To find the electric field at point P, place a vanishingly small positive test charge q0 at point P. According to Coulombs law, force on the test charge q 0 due to charge q is given by
Where is unit vector along OP. If is the electric field at point P, then
Or

.......... (1)
The magnitude of electric field at point P is given by .......... (2) From the above expression for electric field, it follows that electric field is spherically symmetric as seen from the charge q and its magnitude decreases inversely as the square of the distance from the charge. Electric Lines of Force Electric field in any space is represented by the electric field lines or lines force. In general an electric field line is a curve drawn in such a way that the tangent to it at each point is in the direction of the net field at that point. The strength of electric field at any point is measured as the number of electric lines of force crossing a unit area held normal to the lines of force at that point. Properties of Electric lines of force 1. Field lines start from positive charges and end at negative charges. If there is single charge, they may start or end at infinity. 2. In a charge-free region, electric field lines can be taken to be continuous curves without any breaks. 3. Two field lines can never cross each other. In case, two lines of force intersect at a point, then at that point, electric field will not have a unique direction. As it is not possible, the lines of force can never intersect each other. 4. The relative closeness of lines of force in different regions of space gives the idea about the relative strengths of the electric field in the different regions. The region, where lines of force are closer, the electric field is strong and the region, where the lines of force are farther apart, the field is weak. 5. Electrostatic field lines do not form any closed loops. This follows from the conservative nature of the electric field. 6. The lines of force never pass through a conductor. This indicates that the electric field inside a conductor is always zero.
Electric field lines of charge configurations. I. Electric field lines due to isolated positive and negative charge.
II.
Electric field lines due to two positive charges
III.
Electric field lines due to two unlike charges of equal magnitude
Electric Dipole An electric dipole is a pair of equal and opposite point charges q and q separated by a distance of 2a.
3
If charges have magnitude q each and the distance from the centre of the negative charge to that of the positive charge is 2a, the product is defined as the electric dipole moment. The electric dipole moment is a vector quantity, is directed along the line joining the two charges from negative charge towards positive charge. It is given by
The SI unit of electric dipole moment is coulomb-meter (Cm). The dimensional formula is [LTA]. The centre of the dipole lies at the midpoint of the line joining the two charges q and +q. The total charge of an electric dipole is zero. Water and hydrogen chloride molecule have electric dipole moments.

Lecture Notes On Electric Field

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture Notes On Electric Field

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Description:

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

Lecture Notes On Electric Field

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

Electric field Electric field due to a charge is the space around the charge, in which any other charge

Electric field lines due to two positive charges

Electric field lines due to two unlike charges of equal magnitude

You might also like