Electric fields

 What is meant by an electric field?

An electric field is a region of space where charged object experiences a force.
 Michael Faraday was a brilliant scientist who developed the idea of 'lines of force' to describe
magnetic fields. In this chapter you will learn about the forces between electric charges in electric
fields, and how they too can be described using lines of force.
Matter contains atoms and molecules. When you put a very large number of them together to
make up a planet like the Earth, their mass produces what is called a gravitational field.
 The atoms and molecules in matter contain protons and electrons that carry electric charge.
Normally the positive and negative charges in an object, like a plastic comb, exactly cancel each
other out so that the comb is electrically neutral, i.e. has a total charge of zero. But sometimes a
comb that has been rubbed on a cloth has a net charge and can pick up tiny pieces of paper. The
charge on the comb produces what is called an electric field and the force on the paper is called an
electric or electrostatic force.

Invisible force – gravitational Invisible force – electrostatic

Electric forces
How does the comb pick up the pieces of paper? The plastic comb is electrically charged and the tiny
bits of paper becomes positively charged and then, the unlike charges attract. To confirm this fact, and
to show that like charges repel, use charged insulating rods as shown in the figure.

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Electric field strength ( E )
 It is the force per unit acting per unit positive charge.
 Electric field strength E is a vector quantity.
 The direction of E is the same as the direction of the electric force .
 Electric field strength ( E ) is given by the expression

Electric field strength = Electric field strength =

E= and also E=


S.I unit : NC-1 or Vm-1
Example 1
A proton of charge +1.6 x 10-19C is moving in an electric field of strength 500 NC-1.
(a) What electric force acts on it?
(b) How does this force compare with the weight of a proton?
(proton mass = 1.7 x 10-27 kg)

Uniform electric fields


Two oppositely charged plates placed as shown in the figure produce a uniform electric field
between them.

In a uniform electric field, the lines of force are equally spaced and parallel. (At the edges this is
not quite true.)

When you move a small charged object around in a uniform electric field, the force on it remains
constant because E = F/Q, this means that the value of E is the same everywhere.
 A uniform electric field
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Accelerating charges
Many machines work by using fast-moving charged particles. For example, in a hospital X-ray
machine, high speed electrons are crashed into a metal target in order to produce the X-rays. So how
do we cause the electrons to move at high speed? A space that will cause charged particles to
accelerate is said to have an electric field.

An X-ray machine

The force, F, acting on a charged particle in an electric field is given by

F=QE
For the accelerating particle, we can apply
F=ma
Therefore,

ma = QE and a=

Example 2
In the X-ray machine shown in the figure above, there is a potential difference of 45 000V between a
cathode and an anode. These electrode plates are 10 cm apart. What is the electrical field strength
between the plates?
Example 3
(a) What force will an electron experience when it is in an electric field generated by an X-ray
machine’s electric field of strength 4.5 × 105 Vm-1?
(b) How fast will the electron be travelling if this field accelerates if it is within the field for a distance
 of 10 cm ?
Answers : (a) -7.2 × 10-14 N (b) -1.26 × 108 ms-1
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Electric field line

Electric field line is a path along which a test positive charge tends to move

Electric field line in a uniform electric field

( Direction remains the same.) Electric field line in a non - uniform electric field
( Direction is different at different points. )

Electric field line patterns

1. Between positive and negative 2. Between positive and negative

3. Between a positive plate and a negative charge 4. Negatively charged plate with a spike
Radial electric field
Electric field strength in a radial field

 The radial electric field around a proton (or any positively charged sphere) is a region around
a positively charged sphere.
 The electric field will act outwards in all dictions away from the centre of the sphere, as shown
in the figure.
  You will see that the arrows in the figure get further apart as you move further away from the
sphere. This indicates that the field strength decreases as you move away from the centre.
 The distance between equi-potentials also increases as you move further away.
 This means that the potential changes, so if it is weaker, the potential changes less quickly.

Expression for the electric field strength ( E ) for a radial electric field

where , k is the dielectric or Coulomb’s constant,

Q - charge
r - radius or distance
Example 4

What is the electric field strength at a distance of 1 angstrom (1 x 10 -10 m) from a proton?

POTENTIAL IN A RADIAL ELECTRIC FIELD

 Electric field strength tells us how quickly the electric potential is changing. A stronger field
will have the equipotentials closer together.
 This equation states that the electric field strength, E, is equal to the rate of change of
potential, V, with distance, r.
E= dV/dr
 This leads to the expression for radial field potential at a distance r from a charge Q is
considered to be at infinity.

Expression for the electric potential ( V ) for a radial electric field

where , k is the dielectric or Coulomb’s constant,

 Q - charge
r - radius or distance
Example 5

What is the electric potential at a distance of 1 angstrom (1 x 10 -10 m) from a proton?

1. A Van de Graaff generator is charged with 2.5 x 10-7 coulombs in a school lab demonstration. The
spherical metal dome has a diameter of 30 cm.
(a) Draw the electric field around the charged dome of the generator.
(b) Add at least three equipotential lines to your diagram. Label these with their potential
values, following the correct scale of your diagram.
(c) What is the electric field strength at a distance of 5 cm from the surface of the charged
dome?
(d) What is the electric potential at a distance of 35 cm from the surface of the charged dome?

2. If the following figure shows a hydrogen atom, then the separation of the charges would be
5.3 x 10-11 m.

(a) What is the strength of the electric field caused by the proton, at the point where the
electron is?
(b) Calculate the force on the electron caused by the proton's electric field at this distance.

Exercise - 1 – Electric fields

1. A downward force of 6.4 x 10-3N acts on a charge of +3.2pC. What is the magnitude and direction of
the electric field strength at the location of the charge
2. Two oppositely charged plates are separated by a distance of 2.4mm. What voltage must be applied
to them to create an electric field of 2.0 x 104 NC-1?
3. An electron has a mass of 9.1 x 10-31 kg and a charge of 1.6 x 10-19C, placed in an electrical field of
 1.0 x 103 Vm-1, what is its acceleration?
4. An electron carries a charge of -1.6 x 10-19C. If a force of 3.2 x 10-17 N causes the electron to move
upward, what is the magnitude and direction of the electric field?
5. A proton has a charge of +1.6 x 10-19 C. if it is in an electric field of strength 9.00 x 102 NC-1, what
force acts on the proton?
6. A proton has a mass of 1.67 x 10-27kg. At what rate will it accelerate in an electric field of strength
1.0 x 103 NC-1?
7. A pair of deflecting plates in an oscilloscope has a voltage of 120V applied to them. They are
separated by a distance of 2.4mm.
(a) What is the strength of the electric field between the plates?
(b) At what rate will an electron (m = 9.1 x 10-31kg) accelerate at the instant if enters the space
between the plates? (The electron is initially moving in a direction perpiendicular to the
field lines).
8. A tiny plastic sphere of mass 1.0 x 10-15 kg is held suspended between two charged plates by
balancing the downward gravitational force with an upward electrical force of equal magnitude.
(a) What is the magnitude of the electric force acting on the sphere?
(b) If the voltage applied to the plates is 30V, and the plates are separated by a distance of
1.47mm, what is the amount of excess charge on the sphere?
(c) If the top plate is positively charged, is the charge on the sphere positive or negative?
9. In fine weather, the electric field near the surface of the Earth is 100Vm -1 downwards. A drop of
water of mass 25mg is suspended in the electric field. What is the charge on the drop?