# Electric Field - Formula, direction, concepts, & derivation (2022)

A space that causes charged particles to accelerate is said to have an Electric Field. By definition, the electric field (E) at a given point in the space surrounding a source charge is the ratio of the electric force (F) exerted on a test charge (q) placed at that point to the magnitude of that charge. In other words, Electric field strength, E, is defined as the force per unit positive charge. It’s the force that a charge of +1 C would experience if it was placed in the electric field.

The electric field can be calculated using the equation E = F/q where q is the magnitude of the test charge in coulombs (C); F is the electric force on the test charge applied by the source charge in Newton (N), and E is the strength of the electric field at that point in Newton per coulomb (N/C).

The direction of the electric field at a point is the direction of the electric force exerted on a positive test charge at that point. (a) If the source charge is negative, the field is directed toward the source. (b) If the source charge is positive, the field is directed away from the source.

The electric field is a vector quantity. Electric fields are represented by electric field lines. An electric field line indicates the direction in which a positive test charge would move if placed at a point in the electric field.

The electric field (symbol E) is defined as the electric force per unit charge: E = F/q, measured in SI units Newton per Coulomb (N/C). The term Electric Field is also known as Electric Field Strength.

1. Electric Field and its direction
2. Properties of electric field lines
3. Equation or formula of Electric Field | Magnitude of electric field
• In a Radial Field, E is Inversely Proportional to r2
• In a Uniform Field, E is the Same Everywhere
4. Direction of the Electric Field
5. Derivation of the Electric Field equation using Coulomb’s law
6. Superposition principle to get the resultant electric field caused by more than one charges
7. Direction of the Electric Field for a pair of metal plates with opposite charge distribution
• SI unit of electric field
8. Lines of force
9. Representing electric fields with a diagram
10. Electric Force formula from the Electric Field formula
11. Formula of the acceleration of the charge in an Electric Field
12. Electric Potential definition and Formula
13. Potential Difference | Kinetic Energy gained by a charged particle
14. Summary

## Electric Field and its direction

Coulomb’s law gives the force between two charges. But practically when we have millions of charges it’s quite impractical to use Coulomb’s law to find the net force on any single charge. In situations like this, the concept of a field to describe how the electric force acts on charges becomes useful.

An electric field surrounds a charge and represents the physical effect of a particular charge in a nearby space. When another charge is placed in the field, the field will exert an electric force on that charge.

You can imagine determining or mapping out an electric field by using a small positive charge (a test charge) at a location near the charge of field interest. The force (magnitude and direction) on the test charge is recorded. The electric field (E = F/q) is the force per unit charge.

In this manner, if an arbitrary charge q is placed in the field E, then the magnitude of the force on it can be found by F = q E, with the direction depending on the sign of the charge or how it would react to a positive test charge.

When the electric force is determined at many locations, we have a vector “map” of the electric force field.

We can understand the electric field concept with a more familiar example of gravity.

(Video) Electric Field Due To Point Charges - Physics Problems

We know that if we drop an object from some height above the earth’s surface, it experiences the force of gravity and begins to fall. We can think of the space above Earth as having a gravitational field that will generate a force on any object we place there.

In this case, you’d define the gravitational field to have a value g = F/m, or the force per unit mass on the object. The field’s direction is downward, toward Earth. The electric field (symbol E) is defined in a similar way, as the electric force per unit charge: E = F/q

## Properties of electric field lines

Electric field lines:

• start and end perpendicular to the surface of a charged object
• never cross each other
• are closer where the electric field is stronger
• are directed from positive to negative

## Equation or formula of Electric Field | Magnitude of electric field

The electric field (symbol E) is defined as the electric force per unit charge and is expressed with the equation as follows: E = F/q, where F is the force applied by the source charge on the test charge and q is the magnitude of that test charge.

Let’s see how the electric field equation can be expressed for (1) radial electric field & (2) Uniform electric field.

### In a Radial Field, E is Inversely Proportional to r2

For a positive Q, a small
positive ‘test’ charge q would
be repelled, so the field lines
point away from Q.

For a negative Q, a small
positive charge q would be
attracted, so the field lines
point towards Q.

In a radial field, the electric field strength, E, depends on the distance r from the point charge Q:
E = kQ / r2 where constant k = 1/(4πε0)
And, E is the electric field strength (N/C), ε0 is the permittivity of free space (8.85× 10-12 Farad/m), Q is the point source charge (C) and r is the distance from the point charge (m).

Field strength decreases as you go further away from Q.

A graph of E against r looks like this:

### In a Uniform Field, E is the Same Everywhere

1) A uniform field can be produced by connecting two parallel plates to the opposite poles of a battery:

2) In a uniform field, the field lines are parallel so they’re always the same distance apart. This means that the field strength is the same at all points within the field — i.e. a test charge would experience the same force wherever it was.

(Video) Integrals to find Electric field and Electric potential

3) The field strength between two parallel plates depends on the potential difference between the plates, V, and the distance, d, between them, according to the equation: E = V/d

## Direction of the Electric Field

The direction of the electric field at a location is the same as the direction of the electric force on a positively charged particle at that location in the field.

i.e. Direction of the electric field = Direction of the force on a positively charged particle.

As said earlier that the direction of the electric field at a point is the direction of the electric force exerted on a positive test charge at that point. Therefore, (a) If the source charge is negative, the field is directed toward the source. (b) If the source charge is positive, the field is directed away from the source.

Obviously, the electric force on a negative particle is directed opposite to the electric field.

Figure (3) below shows forces exerted by a uniform electric field on positively and negatively charged particles. Here evidently the source charge is positive.

## Derivation of the Electric Field equation using Coulomb’s law

As per Coulomb’s Law, the electric force on a test charge q applied by the source charge Q can be expressed as:
F = (k Qq)/r2 ………..(equation 1), where r is the distance between the two charges.

Now if there is electric field E at that specific location where charge q rests then we can write the equation of the electric force applied on q in this way as well:
F = E q ………………(equation 2)

Now as these 2 equations express the same electric force, we can easily write:

E q = (k Qq)/r2

=> E = (k Q)/r2………….. (This is the equation of the electric field at a distance r from the source charge Q)

If the source charge Q is positive then the electric field E is positive and the direction of the electric field E will be radially outward from Q. And if the source charge Q is negative then the electric field E is negative and its direction will be radially inward.

## Superposition principle to get the resultant electric field caused by more than one charges

The Net Electric Force applied on a test charge by n number of source charges can be obtained by the superposition principle where the net force is the vector sum of the individual electric forces being applied on the test charge by the individual source charges.

Similarly, the net Electric field at a location in space can be obtained by the superposition principle where the net electric field is the vector sum of all the individual electric fields due to individual electric charges.

(Video) 12. Electric field on the axis of an electric dipole | Class 12th | Physics #cbse

## Direction of the Electric Field for a pair of metal plates with opposite charge distribution

The figure above shows a good way to make a fairly uniform electric field:

Let’s consider the distribution of opposite charges (positive and negative) on a pair of parallel metal plates.

As we said earlier, the direction of the electric field is determined by the direction of the force on a positively charged particle. So in the case of pair of parallel metal plates with opposite charge distribution, we have to note the direction of the force on the positively charged particles.

In this case, the direction of the force on the positively charged particles is along the direction represented with arrows (in the diagram above).

Hence the electric field will also be the same as the direction represented with arrows between the plates i.e. from the positive plate to the negative plate.

The strength of the field depends on how much charge we put on the plates—more charge makes a stronger field, consistent with Coulomb’s law.

### SI unit of electric field

SI unit is Newton per Coulomb (N/C)

## Lines of force

When the field vectors are connected, we have lines of force, where the arrowheads indicate the force direction on a positive charge. If an arbitrary charge were put in a field and released, it would follow one of these lines, the field acting on the charge.

The lines between the positive and negative charges begin and end on the charges, respectively. This indicates that the charges are attractive, and the field gets stronger as the lines of force get closer.

For the two positive charges (or two negative charges), there are no lines of force between them, which indicates that the charges are repulsive.

## Representing electric fields with a diagram

Here is a list of simple diagrams to show the electric fields around charged objects:

## Electric Force formula from the Electric Field formula

The electric field is expressed with the equation E = F/q where q is the magnitude of the test charge in coulombs (C); F is the electric force on the test charge applied by the source charge in Newton (N), and E is the strength of the electric field at that point in Newton per coulomb (N/C).

Now from this equation of E, we can easily get the equation or formula of the Electric Force F.
Electric Force = F = E q

This means the electric force that acts on a charged particle is calculated by multiplying the Electric Field Strength(E) with the amount of charge q.

(Video) Electric Field Due to a Line of Charge - Finite Length - Physics Practice Problems

## Formula of the acceleration of the charge in an Electric Field

The equation or formula of the Electric Force F acting on a charge q placed in an electric field E is given as follows:
Electric Force = F = E q
Now we know from Newton’s 2nd law that force can be expressed as F = m a where m is the mass and a is the acceleration of the charged particle.

We can therefore write that, m a = E q
=> Hence, the formula of the acceleration of the charge in an Electric Field is as follows: a = (E q)/m

Thus we get the formula of the acceleration of the charge.

A charged particle placed in a uniform electric field undergoes constant acceleration.

Now, what’s the direction of the acceleration? If the test particle carries a positive charge (q > 0) then the electric force on it and its acceleration have the same direction as electric field E. If q < 0, Force and acceleration point towards the direction opposite the direction of the electric field.

## Electric Potential definition and Formula

Every location within an Electric field gives a charged particle a certain electric potential energy. This potential energy is equal to the work done to bring that charged particle to that location within the electric field. From this, we get the concepts of electric potential.

The Electric Potential of a location within an electric field is the electric potential energy per unit of charge at that location.

The formula of electric potential(V) can be written like this: V = Ep /q where Ep denotes electric potential energy gained by the charge q. This is also written as V = W /q where W denotes the work done to move the charge q.

Here we also get the equations of work done to move a charge in an electric field and the electric potential energy gained by that:
W = V q and Ep = V q

## Potential Difference | Kinetic Energy gained by a charged particle

The difference in Electric potential between a location in the electric field and another new location that the electron might move to is called the Potential Difference.

The Kinetic Energy gain by a charged particle: The potential difference for a device in an electrical circuit is defined as the energy transferred per coulomb of charge passing through the device. In an electric field, we can follow the same idea to determine how much kinetic energy a charged particle will gain by moving through a potential difference of V within the field.
This Kinetic energy gain is given by the equation Ek = Vq

## Summary

Electric field concepts, definition, direction, and unit are what we discussed in this post. We also discussed the Electric field force and acceleration formula. Definition and formula of Electric Potential are also covered.

(Video) Electric Charge and Electric Fields

Suggested Study:

Triboelectric charging

## FAQs

### What is electric field and its derivation? ›

Electric field can be considered as an electric property associated with each point in the space where a charge is present in any form. An electric field is also described as the electric force per unit charge. The formula of electric field is given as; E = F /Q.

### What is the formula for electric fields? ›

E = F q test = k | Q | r 2 . This equation gives the magnitude of the electric field created by a point charge Q. The distance r in the denominator is the distance from the point charge, Q, or from the center of a spherical charge, to the point of interest.

### What is electric field concept? ›

Electric field is defined as the electric force per unit charge. The direction of the field is taken to be the direction of the force it would exert on a positive test charge. The electric field is radially outward from a positive charge and radially in toward a negative point charge.

### What is the direction of electric field? ›

If it's a positive charge you know the electric field points radially out from that positive. And if it's a negative charge, you know the field points radially inward toward that negative charge.

### What is the SI unit of electric field? ›

The SI unit of the electric field is volts per metre (V/m). This unit is equivalent to Newton's per coulomb. These are derived units where Newton is a unit of force and Coulomb is the unit of charge.

### What are the types of electric field? ›

An electric field is the force that fills the space around every electric charge or group of charges. There are two types of electric fields: static (or electrostatic) fields and dynamic (or time-varying) fields. Electric fields have a definite magnitude and specific direction.

### What is the symbol for electric field? ›

The electric field is represented by the symbol E. The SI unit of the electric field is newton per coulomb which is equal to volts per meter.

### What is the magnitude and direction of electric field? ›

The electric field direction points straight away from a positive point charge, and straight at a negative point charge. The magnitude of the electric field falls off as 1 / r 2 1/r^2 1/r21, slash, r, squared going away from the point charge.

### Where is electric field? ›

The electric field is the amount of electric force per charge and the electric force on a charge at some point in space is the amount of charge times the electric field at that point in space.

### What is the nature of electric field? ›

The electric field is defined as the electric force per unit charge. If we observe the electric field pattern, it is radially directed outward from a positive charge and directed inwards from a negative point charge. The electric field is a vector quantity, and the SI unit of the electric field is volts per metre.

### What is the direction of electric field Class 12? ›

The direction of electric field produced by positive charges is radially outward from the charge, i.e. away from the point charge. The direction of electric field produced by negative charges is radially toward the charge, i.e. towards the point charge.

### What is the direction of electric field at P and R? ›

Solution : Electric field lines are perpendicular to the equipotential surfaces and point in the direction of decreasing potential. At P, electric field vec E is to the left and at R, vec E is upward.

### What determines the direction of the force in an electric field? ›

If you consider the electric field to be originating from a positive charge (+q) then the direction of the field is away from that (imaginary) charge and the direction of force exerted on another positive charge in the field is in the same direction as the field - the source of the field repels the positive charge, but ...

### What is the direction of electric field due to positive charge? ›

Solution : The direction of electric field is radialy outward due ot a positive charge.

### Is electric field a vector? ›

The electric is a vector quantity. We know that electric field is the ratio of force per unit test charge. Since, force is a vector quantity, electric field is also a vector quantity.

### Can electric field be negative? ›

The electric field can never be negative even if the charge is negative. The direction of the electric field is changed (reversed) when the sign of the (source) charge is made opposite. This indicates that the electric field is a vector.

### What are the properties of field lines? ›

What are the properties of electric field lines? The field lines never intersect each other. The field lines are perpendicular to the surface of the charge. The magnitude of charge and the number of field lines, both are proportional to each other.

### What is the use of concept of electric field intensity? ›

A measure of the force exerted by one charged body on another. Imaginary lines of force or electric field lines originate (by convention) on positive charges and terminate on negative charges.

### What is called electric flux? ›

electric flux, property of an electric field that may be thought of as the number of electric lines of force (or electric field lines) that intersect a given area. Electric field lines are considered to originate on positive electric charges and to terminate on negative charges.

### Does electric field depend on area? ›

Electric field intensity at any cross-section in a current carrying wire is in inversely proportional to its cross sectional area.

### What is field energy? ›

The energy of an electric field results from the excitation of the space permeated by the electric field. It can be thought of as the potential energy that would be imparted on a point charge placed in the field.

### How do you determine the direction of an electric field from a magnetic field? ›

To find the direction of propagation of an E&M wave, point the fingers of the right hand in the direction of the electric field, curl them toward the direction of the magnetic field, and your thumb will point in the direction of propagation.

### What is dimension of electric field? ›

Therefore, the Electric Field is dimensionally represented as [M1 L1 I-1 T-3].

### What is the magnitude and direction of the electric field at point P? ›

Justification: Electric fields obey the law of superposition, meaning that the total electric field of a system is equal to the sum of all electric fields in the system. The electric field at point P caused by each charge is equal in magnitude, but opposite in direction.

### What is electric field class 12th? ›

Solution : The space surrounding the given charge in which a positive test charge experiences a force is known as electric field.

### How is V ED derived? ›

One of the formulas I came across while doing problems with simple parallel plate capacitors was E = V/d, where E is the magnitude of the electric field between the plates, V is the potential difference between the plates, and d is the separation of the plates.

### What is electric field lines Class 12 physics? ›

An electric field line is an imaginary line or curve drawn from a point of an electric field such that tangent to it (at any point) gives the direction of the electric field at that point.

### What is electric field Vedantu? ›

Hint: In this question use the definition of electric field which states that it is the region around a charged particle or object within which another charged particle will experience a force over it, this force can be either a force of attraction or a force of repulsion.

### Is electric field a scalar or vector? ›

No, electric field is not a scalar. The electric is a vector quantity. We know that electric field is the ratio of force per unit test charge. Since, force is a vector quantity, electric field is also a vector quantity.

### What is electric field vector? ›

Definition of electric field

The electric field E ⃗ \vec E E E, with, vector, on top is a vector quantity that exists at every point in space. The electric field at a location indicates the force that would act on a unit positive test charge if placed at that location.

### What is dimension of electric field? ›

Therefore, the Electric Field is dimensionally represented as [M1 L1 I-1 T-3].

### Is it V ED or V =- ed? ›

In V=-Ed, a negative direction (corresponding to moving towards a positive potential) will give you a positive result for V. if you are moving away from the higher potential, a positive direction, the potential is lower.

### What is relation between E and V? ›

We observe that the product of potential and distance is constant (equal to 6). Therefore V2=6E, which is the required relation between 'V' and 'E'. Note: Students should always remember that electric potential is a scalar quantity whereas the electric field is a vector quantity.

### What formula is V w? ›

Examples Using V = Wq - YouTube

### What are 4 properties of electric fields? ›

• Field lines never intersect each other.
• They are perpendicular to the surface charge.
• The field is strong when the lines are close together, and it is weak when the field lines move apart from each other.
• The number of field lines is directly proportional to the magnitude of the charge.

### What is properties of electric field? ›

What are the properties of electric field lines? The field lines never intersect each other. The field lines are perpendicular to the surface of the charge. The magnitude of charge and the number of field lines, both are proportional to each other.

### What are the two types of electric field lines? ›

An electric field is the force that fills the space around every electric charge or group of charges. There are two types of electric fields: static (or electrostatic) fields and dynamic (or time-varying) fields.

### What is the importance of electric field? ›

An electric field is an elegant way of characterizing the electrical environment of a system of charges. The electric field at any point in space around a system of charges represents the force a unit positive test charge would experience if placed at that point.

### What are three examples of electric fields? ›

Light, X- rays, radio waves, microwaves etc. contains electric field component's in it. There is an external electric field in a current carrying conductor. Electric fields are generated by charges and charge configurations such as capacitors.

### What is the unit of mobility? ›

The SI unit of mobility= m2V−1s−1.

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