The Electric Field Vector and the Potential Gradient The electrostatic field is conservative, or, curl-free: .

Since the curl of any gradient is identically zero, its E-field vector can be expressed as the gradient of a scalar. This scalar is the electrostatic potential V: , V/m. Inversely,

, V, where P is the observation point and is a reference point (where V is assumed equal to zero).

In Figure 1, an equipotential plot is given of the electrostatic potential distribution in the crosssection of a twin-lead line whose left wire is at 100 V potential and its right wire is at 100 V. The blue-green line along the x-axis is a streamline since it is orthogonal to every equipotential line it crosses. It is along the direction of the fastest rate of change of the potential V for each point belonging to the line. We can then find E along this line as

where

is the directional derivative of V with respect to x. derivative by very small (but not infinitesimal) increments:

We can approximate the

where

is a very short line segment along x, and

is the corresponding change in V. The ( and being the

shorter , the better the above approximation. Thus, if begin and end points of the segment) then

. The above derivative estimate is the most accurate at the point right in the middle of the segment. , which is

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In our case, the equipotentials are plotted with 10-V increments, i.e. V. Note that the potential distribution is anti-symmetrical with respect to the y-axis. Figure 1 also displays the rectangular grid: the major grid points are spaced at 1 mm, while the minor grid points are every 0.2 mm. Thus, it allows accurate measurement of the length of the segment along the bluegreen line. Follow the instructions below in order to find the magnitude of the electric field at a point along the blue-green line, and compare your result with a highly accurate numerical calculation.

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