What is an Electric Charge?

What is Electric Field?

The electric field exists everywhere in space and can be studied by introducing another charge into it. When an object carries an electric charge, it generates an electric field that affects the surrounding area in a way such that, other charged particles around it experience a force either of attraction or repulsion. Also, the distance between these charge particles also affects the magnitude of force experienced by these particles. Let’s define the electric field first in the following heading....

What is an Electric Charge?

Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. There are two types of electric charges: positive and negative. Like charges repel each other, while opposite charges attract....

Electric Field Strength

The electric field strength at a point in space is defined as the force experienced by a unit positive charge placed at that point. In other words, the magnitude of the strength of the electric field is called Electric Field Strength and it can be calculated using the formula:...

Types of Electric Charge

Electric charge is classified into two primary types: positive and negative. Positive charge is associated with protons, subatomic particles found in an atom’s nucleus, and is indicated by the “+” symbol. Conversely, negative charge is linked to electrons, which orbit around the nucleus, and is represented by the “-” symbol....

Unit of Electric Field Strength

The unit of electric field strength is volts per meter (V/m) which represents the amount of electric potential difference (voltage) per unit length. Some other units of Electric Field Strength include Newtons per coulomb (N/C) [derived from the above-mentioned formula i.e., E = F/q] and Statvolts per centimeter (statV/cm) [in cgs system], where 1 statvolt/cm is equal to 3.3356 V/m....

Coulomb’s Law

Coulomb’s Law describes the forces exerted by point charges on each other. In physics, “Point Charge” refers to the fact that linearly charged objects have a small size in contrast to the distance between them. As a result, we treat them as point charges since calculating the attraction/repulsion force between them is straightforward....

Representation of Electric Fields

There are two ways in which we can represent the Electric Fields...

Electric Field Due to Point Charges

The electric field due to a point charge is a vector field that describes the electric field strength and direction at different points in space surrounding the charge. The electric field vector at a given point represents the force experienced by a positive test charge placed at that point....

Electric Field Due to Continuous Charge Distributions

The electric field due to a continuous charge distribution is calculated using integration techniques, as the charge is spread out over a continuous region rather than being concentrated at a single point. To find the required electric field due to the region of Continuous Charge Distributions at a point, we integrate the electric field contribution of infinitesimally small charge elements....

Electric Field Due to Uniformly Charged Line

Consider a line segment of length L with a uniform charge density λ. We want to determine the electric field at a point P located a distance r away from the line....

Electric Field Due to Uniformly Charged Ring

Consider a uniformly charged ring radius R with zero thickness and total charge +Q. Let’s assume we want to calculate the electric field at a point P located on the axis of the ring at a distance x from the center of the ring, O....

Electric Field Due to Uniformly Charged Disk

To find the electric field at point P due to the disk, let us consider an elemental ring of radius y and width dy if dq is the charge on this infinitesimal element, then...

Electric Field Due to Uniformly Charged Sphere

To calculate the electric field due to a uniformly charged sphere at a point outside the sphere, we can use the principles of symmetry and integration....

Methods of Charging

The act of charging involves either supplying electric charge to an object or enabling it to lose electric charge. There are three primary ways an initially uncharged object can acquire a charge:...

Properties of Electric Charge

Electric charge exhibits several key properties that enhance our understanding of its behavior....

Sample Problems on Electric Field

Problem 1: A charge of 2 C is placed in the center of an 8 cm3 cube. What is the magnitude of the electric flux traveling through one of the faces?...

Electric Field – FAQs

Define Electric Field....