Faculty of Engineering

Electromagnetic Fields
(ELTE 207)

Topic's Name: Electric Field Intensity

Student's Name: Ryiad Faiz Mohamed

Department: Communications

I.D.: 83028

This report is submitted to

Dr. Ahmed Samir

What is Electric Field Intensity?
The space around an electric charge in which its influence
can be felt is known as the electric field. The electric field
intensity at a point is the force experienced by a unit
positive charge placed at that point.

 Electric Field Intensity is a vector quantity.

 It is denoted by ‘E’.
 Formula: Electric Field = F/q.
 Unit of E is NC-1 or Vm-1.

The electric field intensity due to a positive charge is

always directed away from the charge and the intensity
due to a negative charge is always directed towards the
charge.
Due to a point charge q, the intensity of the electric field at
a point d units away from it is given by the expression:
Electric Field Intensity (E) = q/[4πεd2] NC-1
The intensity of the electric field at any point due to a
number of charges is equal to the vector sum of the
intensities produced by the separate charges.
The Force per Charge Ratio

Electric field strength is a vector quantity; it has both

magnitude and direction. The magnitude of the electric
field strength is defined in terms of how it is measured.
Let's suppose that an electric charge can be denoted by
the symbol Q. This electric charge creates an electric field;
since Q is the source of the electric field, we will refer to it
as the source charge. The strength of the source
charge's electric field could be measured by any other
charge placed somewhere in its surroundings. The charge
that is used to measure the electric field strength is
referred to as a test charge since it is used to test the
field strength. The test charge has a quantity of charge
denoted by the symbol q. When placed within the electric
field, the test charge will experience an electric force -
either attractive or repulsive. As is usually the case, this
force will be denoted by the symbol F. The magnitude of
the electric field is simply defined as the force per charge
on the test charge.
From Coulomb’s Law
Electric field intensity is also known as the electric field
strength. The formula for electric field strength can also be
derived from Coulomb’s law. This law gives the relation
between the charges of the particles and the distance
between them. Here, the two charges are ‘q’ and ‘Q’.
Thus, the electric force ‘F’ is given as

F = k.q.Q/ d2
where k is the proportionality constant and d is the
distance between the charges. When this equation is
substituted for force in equation 1, the formula for electric
field intensity is derived as

E= k. Q/d2

The above equation shows that the electric field intensity

is dependent on two factors – the charge on the source
charge ‘Q’ and the distance between the source charge
and test charge.
Thus, the electric field intensity of a charge is location
dependent. It is inversely proportional to the square of the
distance between source charge and the test charge. As
the distance increases the magnitude of the electric field
strength or electric field intensity decreases.

Electric Field Intensity due to the Uniform Charge

Distribution
For finding electric fields due to continuous charge
distribution, we consider the term charge density as a
measure of electric charge per unit length for linear
distribution, the charge per unit area for areal distribution
and charge per unit volume for volumetric distribution. A
surface charge density σ at an area element is given by
The linear charge density λ of a wire is defined by
λ=ΔQ/Δl, where λ is the linear charge density, Δl is a small
line element of wire and ΔQ is the charge in that elemental
portion
The areal charge density for a sheet of charge is given by
σ=ΔQ/ΔA
where ΔQ is the charge and ΔA is the area element.
The volume charge density is defined by 
ρ=ΔQ/ΔV
where ΔV is volume element and ρ is volume charge
density.

Force Experienced by a Charge in an Electric Field

The electrostatic force experienced by a charge of
magnitude q placed in an electric field of strength E is
given by:
If q is positive, the force acts in the direction of E and
equals to F=qE
If q is negative, the force acts in the direction opposite to E
and is given by F=qE 
This force is experienced on a charge placed in an electric
field whether it is at rest or motion and this force is
independent of mass as well as the velocity of the charged
particle. The force experienced by a proton and an
electron in the same electric field is equal in magnitude
and opposite in direction.
Also, if the charge has some initial velocity, the force on
the proton is accelerating in nature while that on the
electron is retarding force.
The ratio of acceleration of proton/Retardation of electron
= mass of an electron/mass of a proton.

Electric Lines of Force

Electric lines of force are imaginary lines which are
continuous straight or curve, tangent to a point on the line,
gives the direction of electric field vector and number of
lines per unit area that is the density of lines is
proportional to the magnitude of E.

Properties of Electric Lines of Force

1. Electric lines of force start from the positive charge
and end at the negative charge.
2. Number of electric lines of force start or end on the
charge is proportional to their magnitude
3. Electric lines of force do not form a closed loop.
4. Electric lines of force do not cross each other.
5. Electric lines of force are always perpendicular to the
conducting surface.
Electrodynamic fields

Electrodynamic fields are electric fields which do change

with time, for instance when charges are in motion. In this
case, a magnetic field is produced in accordance
with Ampère's circuital law (with Maxwell's addition),
which, along with Maxwell's other equations, defines the
magnetic field, , in terms of its curl:
where  is the current density,  is the vacuum permeability,
and  is the vacuum permittivity.
That is, both electric currents (i.e. charges in uniform
motion) and the (partial) time derivative of the electric field
directly contributes to the magnetic field. In addition,
the Maxwell–Faraday equation states
These represent two of Maxwell's four equations and they
intricately link the electric and magnetic fields together,
resulting in the electromagnetic field. The equations
represent a set of four coupled multi-dimensional partial
differential equations which, when solved for a system,
describe the combined behavior of the electromagnetic
fields. In general, the force experienced by a test charge
in an electromagnetic field is given by the Lorentz force
law:

Electric Field Intensity at a Point due to Point Charge Q: It

is a vector force acting on a unit (+ve) charge. The electric
field intensity due to a point located at distance R from the
charge Q is given by
Electric Field Intensity at a Point due to Point Charges Q1,
Q2,….., Qn

If we have a system of charges Q1, Q2…Qn. the total

electric field at a point is the vector sum of all fields due to
the different charges
Electric field intensity of a surface charge
Since, the unit vector 𝒂𝒓𝒄 is not a constant unit vector and
′it is a function of 𝝋′ , and since 𝒂𝒓𝒄 = 𝒂𝒙 𝒄𝒐𝒔𝝋′ + 𝒂𝒚 𝒔𝒊𝒏𝝋
,So
Thank You