PHYSICS 2

WEEK 3
ELECTRIC FIELD
ELECTRIC FIELD
• The region around the
electric charges where
another charge when placed
will experience a force of
attraction or repulsion is
called an electric field.

• The direction of electric field

is from the positive charge to
the negative charge

• Electric field is represented

by imaginary lines called
electric field lines.
Let’s illustrate!

https://phet.colorado.edu/sims/html/charges-and-fields/latest/charges-and-
fields_en.html
Formula of Electric Field

𝑘𝑞
𝐸= 2
𝑑
ELECTRIC FIELD ONE DIMENSION
Example 1 | Find the net electric field due to other charges at point charge.

𝑞1 = 3𝑛𝐶, −4𝑚𝑚 𝑞2 = 6𝑛𝐶, −2𝑚𝑚 𝑞3 = 7𝑛𝐶, 4𝑚𝑚 𝑞4 = 4𝑛𝐶, 6𝑚𝑚

Point charge is at 2mm

Solution:

Step 1: Draw a cartesian plane and plot the given points.

Example 1 | Find the net electric field due to other charges at point charge.

Step 2: Solve the electric field for each charges.

𝑘𝑞3
𝐸𝑞1 =
𝑘𝑞1
𝐸𝑞2 =
𝑘𝑞2 𝐸𝑞3 =
𝑑2
𝑑2 𝑑2 𝑁𝑚2
𝑁𝑚2 𝑁𝑚2 9𝑥109 (7𝑥10−9 𝐶)
9𝑥109 2 (3𝑥10−9 𝐶) 9𝑥109 (6𝑥10−9 𝐶) 𝐶2
𝐸𝑞1 = 𝐶
𝐸𝑞2 = 𝐶2 𝐸𝑞3 =
6𝑚 2 2 1𝑚 2
4𝑚 𝑵
𝑵
𝑬𝒒𝟏 = 𝟎. 𝟕𝟓 , 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑬𝒒𝟐 =
𝑵
𝟑. 𝟑𝟕𝟓 , 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑬𝒒𝟑 = 𝟔𝟑 , 𝑳𝒆𝒇𝒕
𝑪 𝑪
𝑪

𝑘𝑞4 𝐸𝑞𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝐸𝑞1 + 𝐸𝑞2 + 𝐸𝑞3 + 𝐸𝑞4

𝐸𝑞4 =
𝑑2 = 0.75 + 3.375 + −63 + −2.25
𝑁𝑚2
9𝑥109 (4𝑥10−9 𝐶) 𝑵
𝐶2 𝑬𝒒𝒏𝒆𝒕 = 𝟔𝟏. 𝟏𝟐𝟓 , 𝑳𝒆𝒇𝒕
𝐸𝑞4 = 𝑪
4𝑚 2
𝑵
𝑬𝒒𝟒 = 𝟐. 𝟐𝟓 , 𝑳𝒆𝒇𝒕
𝑪
Example 2 | Find the net electric field due to
other charges at point charge.

Point charge @3mm

.
𝑞1 = 4𝑛𝐶, 2𝑚

𝑞2 = 6𝑛𝐶, −4𝑚

𝑞3 = 5𝑛𝐶, −6𝑚

Solution:
𝒒𝟑 𝒒𝟐 𝒒𝟏

Step 1: Draw a cartesian plane and plot the

given points. (HORIZONTALLY)
Example 2 |

Step 2: Solve the electric field for each charges.

𝑘𝑞1
𝐸𝑞1 =
𝑑2
𝑁𝑚2
9𝑥109 (4𝑥10−9 𝐶) 𝑘𝑞3
𝐶2
𝐸𝑞1 = 𝐸𝑞3 =
1𝑚 2 𝑑2
𝑵 𝑁𝑚2
𝑬𝒒𝟏 = 𝟑𝟔 , 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 9𝑥109 (7𝑥10−9 𝐶)
𝐶2
𝑪 𝐸𝑞3 =
1𝑚 2
𝑵
𝐸𝑞2 =
𝑘𝑞2 𝑬𝒒𝟑 = 𝟎. 𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟓𝟔 , 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕
𝑪
𝑑2
𝑁𝑚2
9𝑥109 (6𝑥10−9 𝐶)
𝐶2 𝐸𝑞𝑛𝑒𝑡 = 𝐸𝑞1 + 𝐸𝑞2 + 𝐸𝑞3 + 𝐸𝑞4
𝐸𝑞2 = 2
4𝑚
𝑵 = 36 + 1.102040816 + 0.555556
𝑬𝒒𝟐 = 𝟏. 𝟏𝟎𝟐𝟎𝟒𝟎𝟖𝟏𝟔 , 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕 𝑵
𝑪 𝑬𝒒𝒏𝒆𝒕 = 𝟑𝟕. 𝟔𝟓𝟕𝟓𝟗𝟔𝟑𝟕 , 𝑹𝒊𝒈𝒉𝒕
𝑪
ANSWER WORKSHEET # 5