126 — Electricity and Magnetism

“An electric field line is an imaginary line or curve drawn through a region of space so that its tangent
at any point is in the direction of the electric field vector at that point. The relative closeness of the
lines at some place give an idea about the intensity of electric field at that point.”
EQ
Q
EP B
A
P
|EA | > |EB |
Fig. 24.16

The electric field lines have the following properties :

1. The tangent to a line at any point gives the direction of E at that point. This is also the path on
which a positive test charge will tend to move if free to do so.
2. Electric field lines always begin on a positive charge and end on a negative charge and do not start
or stop in mid-space.
3. The number of lines leaving a positive charge or entering a negative charge is proportional to the
magnitude of the charge. This means, for example that if 100 lines are drawn leaving a + 4 µC
charge then 75 lines would have to end on a –3 µC charge.
4. Two lines can never intersect. If it happens then two tangents can be drawn at their point of
intersection, i.e. intensity at that point will have two directions which is absurd.
5. In a uniform field, the field lines are straight parallel and uniformly spaced.

q –q + –
q q

(a) (b) (c)

+ q q + – –q q – + 2q q –

(d) (e) (f)

Fig. 24.17

6. The electric field lines can never form closed loops as a line can never start and end on the
same charge.
 Chapter 24 Electrostatics — 127

7. Electric field lines also give us an indication of the equipotential surface (surface which has the
same potential)
8. Electric field lines always flow from higher potential to lower potential.
9. In a region where there is no electric field, lines are absent. This is why inside a conductor (where
electric field is zero) there, cannot be any electric field line.
10. Electric lines of force ends or starts normally from the surface of a conductor.

INTRODUCTORY EXERCISE 24.3

1. The electric field of a point charge is uniform. Is it true or false?
2. Electric field lines are shown in Fig. 24.18. State whether the electric potential is greater at A or B.

A B

Fig. 24.18

3. A charged particle always move in the direction of electric field. Is this statement true or false?
4. The trajectory of a charged particle is the same as a field line. Is this statement true or false?
5. Figure shows some of the electric field lines due to three point charges q 1, q 2 and q 3 of equal
magnitude. What are the signs of each of the three charges?

q1 q2 q3

Fig. 24.19

6. Four particles each having a charge q, are placed on the four vertices of a regular pentagon.
The distance of each corner from the centre is a. Find the electric field at the centre of the
pentagon.
7. A charge q = − 2.0 µC is placed at origin. Find the electric field at (3 m, 4 m, 0).

24.7 Electric Potential Energy

The electric force between two charges is directed along the line of the charges and depends on the
inverse square of their separation, the same as the gravitational force between two masses. Like the
gravitational force, the electric force is conservative, so there is a potential energy function U
associated with it.
When a charged particle moves in an electric field, the field exerts a force that can do work on the
particle. This work can always be expressed in terms of electric potential energy. Just as gravitational
potential energy depends on the height of a mass above the earth’s surface, electric potential energy
depends on the position of the charged particle in the electric field, when a force F acts on a particle
that moves from point a to point b, the work Wa → b done by the force is given by