ELECTRIC FIELD

ELECTRIC FIELD
Electric Field:
• It is a region around a
charged body in which other
charged body experiences an
electrostatic force.
• Every charged particle has a
region around it. Whenever
another charged particle
comes into that region it
experiences a force which
could be attractive or
repulsive based on the
polarity of the charges.
• It can be mapped out by lines
of force.
 ELECTRIC FIELD
Definition of terms:
• A point charge(Q): is a hypothetical
charge located at a single point in
space
• A source charge(Q): is a charge that
creates an electric field.
• A test charge(q+): is a positive charge
of very small magnitude which gives
the direction and strength of electric
field in space without influencing the
electric field.
• A line of force is an imaginary line
representing a field of force such that
the tangent at any point is the
direction of the field vector at that
point.
The Electric Field
An electric field surrounds every charge.
The Electric Field
For a point charge:

F 1 qQ
E = = k 2 r̂
q q r
kQ
= 2 r̂ for single point charge.
r
1 Q
= r̂
4pe 0 r 2
The Electric Field
Force on a point
charge in an
electric field:
 Electric Field
Relation between electric fields and electric force.
A test charge interacts with electric field of source charge.
From Coulomb’s law

The electric field at any location is

defined as follows:

Fon q + (kqq+ / r 2 ) kq
E= = = 2 SI Unit: N/C
q+ q+ r
The Electric Field
Electric field of a single point charge.
Calculate the magnitude and direction of the
electric field at a point P which is 30 cm to the
right of a point charge Q = -3.0 x 10-6 C.
Solution:

Q
EP = k 2 r̂
r
-6
-3.0 ´10 C ˆ
= 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2 2
2
i
(0.30m)
= -3.0 ´10 N/C iˆ
5
The Electric Field
E at a point between two charges.
Two point charges are separated by a distance of 10.0 cm. One has a
charge of -25 μC and the other +50 μC. (a) Determine the direction and
magnitude of the electric field at a point P between the two charges that is
2.0 cm from the negative charge. (b) If an electron (mass = 9.11 x 10-31 kg)
is placed at rest at P and then released, what will be its initial acceleration
(direction and magnitude)?
Solution:
-6
Q1 -25´10 C ˆ
E1 = k 2 r̂1 = 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2 2
i
r1 (0.020m) 2

= -5.6 ´108 N/C i,ˆ

-6
Q2 50 ´10 C ˆ)
E2 = k 2 r̂2 = 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2 2
( - i
r2 (0.080m) 2

= -7.0 ´10 N/C i,

7 ˆ
E = E1 + E2 = -6.3´10 N/C iˆ
8
Solution:

E = E1 + E2 = -6.3´108 N/C iˆ
F = qE = ma,
qE -1.6 ´10 C × (-6.3´10 N/C) iˆ
-19 8
a= = -31
m 9.1´10 kg
= 1.1´10 20 m/s2 iˆ
 The Electric Field
E above two point
charges.
Calculate the total
electric field (i) at point
A and (ii) at point B in
the figure due to both
charges, Q1 and Q2.
Solution:
-6
Q1 -50 ´10 C
EA1 = k 2 r̂A1 = 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2 2
r̂A1
rA1 (0.60m) 2

rA1 −52i + 30 j
52 ˆ 30 rˆA1 = =
= -1.3´10 N/C ( - i +
6
ĵ) rA1 60

60 60
6 ˆ
= 1.1´10 N/C i - 0.63´10 N/C ĵ,
6

-6
QA 2 50 ´10 C
EA2 = k 2 r̂A2 = 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2 2
ĵ
rA2 (0.30m) 2

= 5.0 ´10 N/C ĵ,

6
Solution:

EA = EA1 + EA2 = 1.1´10 6 N/C iˆ + 4.4 ´10 6 N/C ĵ,

4.4
EA = 4.5´10 N/C, f = arctan
6
= 76 .
1.1
-6
Q1 2 -50 ´10 C
EB1 = k 2 r̂B1 = 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2
r̂B1
rB1 (0.40m) 2

26 ˆ 30
= -2.8 ´10 N/C ( - i +
6
ĵ)
40 40
6 ˆ
= 1.8 ´10 N/C i - 2.1´10 N/C ĵ,
6
Solution:

-6
QB2 2 50 ´10 C
EB2 = k 2 r̂B2 = 9.0 ´10 N × m /C
9 2
r̂
2 B2
rB2 (0.40m)
26 ˆ 30
= 2.8 ´10 N/C ( i +
6
ĵ) rˆB 2 =
rB 2 −26i + 30 j
=
40 40 rB 2 40
6 ˆ
= 1.8 ´10 N/C i + 2.1´10 N/C ĵ,
6

EB = EB1 + EB2 = 3.6 ´10 6 N/C i. ˆ

ELECTRIC FIELD
Electric field intensity Electric field strength
• It is the strength of an electric • It is the force
field at a point. experienced per unit
• It is the physical quantity which positive charge at
appoint placed in the
makes an electric field to be electric field.
measurable.
• It is the electrostatic force per • expression
it is a quantitative
of the
unit test charge. intensity of an electric
• It is a vector quantity. field at a particular
• It originate from a positive point.
charge and goes towards
negative charge for a straight
path.
• In a curved path, it is given by
the tangent at every point.
Electric Field Strength

The electric field strength at any point is defined as the force per unit charge which
is exerts at that point.

The unit of the electric field strength is newton per coulomb(N/C)

Examples
Examples
Examples
Electric field lines
➢ These are a way of visualizing the electric field.
➢ The electric field vector E is tangential to the electric field line at any point.
➢ The magnitude of the electric field vector E is proportional to the density of the lines.
➢ Electric field lines can never cross.

➢ For a positive point charge, the lines

are directed radialy outward.
➢ For a negative point charge, the
lines are directed radialy inward.
➢ An electric dipole has two nearby
point charges of equal magnitude q
and opposite sign, separated by a
distance d. The number of lines
leaving the positive charge equals
the number of lines entering the
negative charge.
 Electric Field lines
Electric field lines due to like charges: (a) equal charges; (b) unequal charges.
 Electric Field lines
• The neutral point is the
point where the force
experienced by a unit • Unequal charges neutral
positive charge is zero. point shift towards the
smaller charge.
• For unequal charges
Electric field lines
Properties of electric field lines.
• Field lines never intersect each other.
• They are perpendicular to the surface charge.
• The field is strong when the lines are close together, and it
is weak when the field lines move apart from each other.
• The number of field lines is directly proportional to the
magnitude of the charge.
• The electric field line starts from the positive charge and
ends at negative charge.
• If the charge is single, then they start or end at infinity.
• The line curves are continuous in a charge-free region.
Electric field lines
The electric field is mainly classified into two types:
• the uniform electric field and
• the nonuniform electric field.
1. Uniform Electric Field
• When the electric field is constant at every point,
then the field is called the uniform electric field. The
constant field is obtained by placing the two
conductor parallel to each other, and the potential
difference between them remains same at every
point.
Electric field lines
2. Non-Uniform Electric Field
• The field which is irregular at every point is called the
non-uniform electric field. The non-uniform field has
a different magnitude and directions.
Electric Field Lines
The electric field between two closely
spaced, oppositely charged parallel plates
is constant.
The strength of a uniform electric field (E)
depends on the potential difference
between the two plates(V) and the
distance between them (d):
The direction of uniform electric fields is
always from the positive towards the
negative plate.
If a charged particle with charge (q) is
placed inside a uniform electric field (E), a
force(F) will be applied onto it. The
magnitude of this force is
 Electric Field Lines
• An important consequence
of this formula is that since
the strength of a uniform
field is constant, the force
applied on the charged
particle is also constant, no
matter where it is placed in
the field.
The direction of the force
depends on the charge:
• If the charge is positive, the
force points towards the
negative plate (parallel to
the electric field direction)
• If the charge is negative,
the force points towards the
positive plate (anti-parallel
to the electric field direction)
Motion of Charge particles in uniform electric field
• Consider an electron (e) with mass, me enters a
uniform electric field, E perpendicularly with an
initial velocity u
Motion of Charge particles in uniform electric field
 Example 7
• An electron enters the region of a uniform electric field as shown in
Figure, with vi = 3.00 x 106 m/s and E = 200 N/C. The horizontal
length of the plates is l=0.100 m.
• (A) Find the acceleration of the electron while it is in the electric
field.
• (B) If the electron enters the field at time t = 0, find the time at
which it leaves the field.
• (C) If the vertical position of the electron as it enters the field
• is yi = 0, what is its vertical position when it leaves the field?
Example 7
Solution:
(a)
eE 1.6 10−19  200
a= = −31
= 3.51 10 m / s
13 2

me 9.1110
(b)
l 0.100 −8
t= = = 3.33  10 s
v 3.00 10 6

(c )
1 2 1
y = a y t =  3.51 1013  (3.33  10−8 ) 2 = 1.95 cm
2 2
The Electric Field
Problem solving in electrostatics: electric
forces and electric fields
1. Draw a diagram; show all charges, with
signs, and electric fields and forces with
directions.
2. Calculate forces using Coulomb’s law.
3. Add forces vectorially to get result.
4. Check your answer!
 Continuous Charge Distributions
A continuous distribution of charge may be treated as a
succession of infinitesimal (point) charges. The total
field is then the integral of the infinitesimal fields due to
each bit of charge:

Remember that the electric field is a vector; you will

need a separate integral for each component.
Consider the following charged object of irregular shape as shown in Figure. The entire
charged object is divided into a large number of charge
elements ∆q1 , ∆q2 , ∆q 3 ......∆qn and each charge element ∆q is taken as a point charge.
 • The electric field at a point P due to a charged object is approximately
given by the sum of the fields at P due to all such charge elements.

rˆip

r̂rˆip

Here ∆qi is the ith charge element, riP is the distance of the point P from the ith charge
element and rˆip is the unit vector from ith charge element to the point P.
However the equation is only an approximation. To incorporate the
continuous distribution of charge, we take the limit ∆q → 0 (= dq). In this limit,
the summation in the equation becomes an integration and takes the following form
Here r is the distance of the point P from the infinitesimal charge dq and r is the
unit vector from dq to point P.
Even though the electric field for a continuous charge distribution is difficult to evaluate, the
force experienced by some test charge q in this electric field is still given by .
(a)If the charge Q is uniformly distributed along the wire of length L,
(b) then linear charge density (charge per unit length) is λ = Q/L . Its unit is coulomb per
meter (Cm-1).
The charge present in the infinitesimal length dl is dq = λdl. This is shown in Figure 1.10 (a).
• The electric field due to the line of total charge Q is given by
(b) If the charge Q is uniformly distributed on a surface of area A, then surface
charge density (charge per unit area) is σ = Q/A . Its unit is coulomb per square
meter (C m-2).
The charge present in the infinitesimal area dA is dq = σ dA. This is shown in the
figure 1.10 (b).
The electric field due to a of total charge Q is given by

This is shown in Figure 1.10(b).

(c) If the charge Q is uniformly distributed in a volume V, then volume charge density
(charge per unit volume) is given by ρ = Q/V .
Its unit is coulomb per cubic meter (C m-3).
The charge present in the infinitesimal volume element dV is dq = ρdV. This is shown
in Figure 1.10(c).
The electric field due to a volume of total charge Q is given by
Exercise1
• Several electric field line patterns are shown in the diagrams below.
Which of these patterns are incorrect? _________ Explain what is
wrong with all incorrect diagrams.
 Exercise 2

• Consider the electric field lines shown in the diagram below. From
the diagram, it is apparent that object A is ____ and object B is ____.

e. insufficient
a. +, + b. -, - c. +, - d. -, +
info
 Exercise 3
• Consider the electric field lines drawn at the right for
a configuration of two charges. Several locations are
labeled on the diagram. Rank these locations in order
of the electric field strength - from smallest to largest.
 Exercise 4
• Use your understanding of electric field lines to
identify the charges on the objects in the following
configurations.
Exercise 5
• A positive charge of 3.0×10−7 C is located in a field of 27 N/C directed
toward the south. What is the force acting on the charge?
Exercise 6
• What is the magnitude of an electric field in which the force on an
electron is equal in magnitude to the weight of an electron?
Exercise 7
• An electron is travelling to the right with a velocity of 1.0x105 m/s
when it enters a uniform electric field of 500 N/C that is
perpendicular to its motion. (a) calculate the vertical acceleration (b)
calculate the vertical displacement after it travelled 10.0 cm to the
right.
Exercise 8
• an electron is moving in a positive direction along x-axis with a
velocity of 3x107 m/s. it enters a constant electric field that is parallel
to the motion and comes to rest after it travelled 10 cm. calculate the
magnitude and direction of the electric field required to stop it.
Exercise 9
• Find the electric field at a point 0.2 m from a charge of 20 µC. What
force will the field exert on a charge of 10 µC, placed at that point.
Exercise 10
• A small object carrying a charge of 5x10-6 C experiences a downward
force of 20x10-9 N when placed at a certain point in an electric field.
What is the electric field at the point.