“Electric Flux Lines &

Equipotential Surfaces”

Presented By : Paying Cadet Taimur Zafar Dogar

Class : 90(B)
Number of Slides : 8 1
 Electric Flux Lines
• In electromagnetism, electric flux is the measure of the electric
field through a given surface. It is a way of describing the electric
field strength at any distance from the charge causing the field.

• The idea of electric flux lines was introduced by Michael Faraday

and they are an imaginary path or a line and their direction at any
point indicates the direction of the electric field at that point.

electric flux between two unlike point

charges
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 Electric Flux Lines
• Electric flux lines follow the properties stated below.

1. The lines always originate from positive charges and terminate

at negative charges. Therefore positive charges are called
sources and negative charges are called sinks of electric flux
lines.
2. No two flux lines can intercept except at singular or
equilibrium points i.e. the points at which the resultant of the
electric field e.g. D = Dxax + Dyay , is zero.
3. The electric flux density D is tangential to the flux lines at every
point.
Considering that the third condition must hold, for any point (x,y)
of the above field D, the flux lines can be given by 3
Δ𝑦 𝐷𝑥
=
Δ𝑥 𝐷𝑦
 Equipotential Surfaces
• Any surface on which the potential is same throughout is
known as an equipotential surface. The intersection of an
equipotential surface and a plane results in a path known as an
equipotential line.
• No work is done in moving a charge from one point to another
along an equipotential line or surface (i.e. VA - VB = 0)

• The above equation implies that electric flux lines (or the
direction of E) are always normal to equipotential surfaces/ 4
lines as the dot product is zero.
 Equipotential Surfaces
• Equipotential lines can be determined in two ways depending
on whether we know V or E.
• If V is known, then the equipotential lines or surfaces are
given by

V = constant

• Otherwise if E is known, then the equipotential lines can be

determined in a way similar to flux lines.
• Using relation of two lines(slope m and n) normal to each
other i.e. m x n = -1
• We can deduce that the equipotential lines are normal to the
flux lines and given by 5
𝑑𝑦 𝐷𝑥
=−
𝑑𝑥 𝐷𝑦
 Equipotential Surfaces
• The following images are examples of equipotential surfaces
and it can be observed that the electric flux lines or lines of
force, are normal to these surfaces at all points.

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QUESTIONS

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THANK YOU