ELECTRIC FIELD

ANAS MUQODDAS
MASLAHATUL UMMAH

Gravitational Field
surrounding any object with mass, or
collection of objects with mass, is a
gravitational field. Any mass placed in
a gravitational field will experience a
gravitational force.
We defined the field strength as the
gravitational force per unit mass on any
test mass placed in the field: g = F /
m.
g is a vector that points in the
direction of the net gravitational force.

Earth

F
m

Electric Field
Surrounding any object with charge,
or collection of objects with charge, is
a electric field. Any charge placed in
an electric field will experience a
electrical force.
We defined the field strength as the
electric force per unit charge on any
test charge placed in the field: E =
F / q. E is a vector that points, , by
definition, in the direction of the net
electric force on a positive charge.

Electric & Gravitational Fields Compared

Field
strength
Gravity:
Electric
Force:

g
E

Force

Intrinsic
Property

SI units

N / kg

FE

N/C

The Magnitude of E-Field

The magnitude of the electric field intensity at a point
in space is defined as the force per unit charge
(N/C).
Like the electric force, the electric field E is a
vector. If the electric field at a particular point is
known, the force a charge q experiences when it is
placed at that point is given by :
Electric
Electric Field
Field
Intensity
Intensity EE

F
N
E ; Units
q
C

Electric Field
Consider a test charge +q placed
at P a distance r from Q.

E
.

The outward force on +q is:

kQq
F 2
r

r
+
+
+

+ +

+
+

The electric field E is therefore:

F kQq r
E
q
q

kQ
E 2
r

kQ
E 2
r

The Resultant Electric Field.

The resultant field E in the vicinity of a number of point
charges is equal to the vector sum of the fields due to each
charge taken individually.
Consider E for each charge.

Vector
Vector Sum:
Sum:
EE == EE11 ++ EE22 ++ EE33
Magnitudes are from:

kQ
E 2
r

q1

ER
q3

E2

E1

E3

+q

Directions are based on

positive test charge.

Electric Field Lines

Electric Field Lines are imaginary lines drawn in
such a way that their direction at any point is the
same as the direction of the field at that point.

Field lines go away from positive charges and

toward negative charges.

Examples of E-Field Lines

Two equal but
opposite charges.

Two identical
charges (both +).

The field around a charged conductor

A conductor is in electrostatic equilibrium when
the charge distribution (the way the charge is
distributed over the conductor) is fixed. At
equilibrium, the charge and electric field follow
these guidelines:

the excess charge lies only at the surface of the

conductor

the electric field is zero within the solid part of

the conductor

the electric field at the surface of the conductor

is perpendicular to the surface

charge accumulates, and the field is strongest,

on pointy parts of the conductor

Gaussian Surface just inside

conductor

Charged Conductor

Electric flux
Electric flux is a measure of the number of
electric field lines passing through an area. To
calculate the flux through a particular surface,
multiply the surface area by the component of the
electric field perpendicular to the surface. If the
electric field is parallel to the surface, no field lines
pass through the surface and the flux will be zero.
The maximum flux occurs when the field is
perpendicular to the surface.
The electric flux is equal to (E cos) A, where
is the angle between the electric field and
the normal (the perpendicular) to the surface

Permittivity

Gauss'
Law - the sum of the electric flux through a surface is
equal to the charge enclosed by a surface divided by a
constant , the permittivity of free space.

1
0
4 k
What is the permittivity of free space? It's a constant related
to the constant k that appears in Coulomb's law. The
relationship between the two is this:
2
1
C
-12
0
8.85 x 10
4 k
N m2