LECTURE IN GENERAL PHYSICS 2

ELECTRIC FIELD
 Measurable effect generated by any charged object.
 The region around a charge where an electric force Fe is detected.
 The strength of an electric field (also called electric-field intensity) is operationally defined as the
ratio of the electric force to the charge q placed at any point in the field.
E = Fe / q
ELECTRIC FIELD LINES
 Lines represent the paths taken by a small positive test charge when allowed to move in the electric
field.
 An imaginary line drawn in such a way that its direction at any point is the same as the direction of
the field at that point.
 This concept of field lines was introduced by Michael Faraday.

Four Important Properties of Electric Field Lines

1. The field lines must be tangent to the direction of the field at any point.
2. The greater the line density, the greater the magnitude of the field.
3. The lines always start from the positively charged objects and end on negatively charged objects.
4. The lines never cross.

Problem Solving
1. A positive charge of 10-6 C placed at a certain point in an
electric field experiences a force of 0.30 N. Find the intensity of the electric field at that point.

2. What is the electric field 20 cm from charge q = 2 x 10 -7 C?