electric field & electric potential Flashcards
what is an electric field?
A field is a physical quantity that has a value for each point in space
what does q1 do in Coulomb’s law in regards to the electric field?
q1 - produces an electric field everywhere in space
what does q2 do in Coulomb’s law in regards to the electric field?
q2 - experiences a force due to this electric field
what is a source charge?
Charges that produce a force on the test charge
what is a test charge?
We are interested in the force on the test charge
how to work out the test charge?
using coulombs law
is the force on a charge at P and charge related?
(force on a charge at P) proportional to the (charge)
what is electric field?
(force on a charge at P) = (charge) × (some vector)
what is the some vector in the equation of …?
“some vector” is called the electric field at the point P and is given the symbol E
what is the symbol for the electric field at point P?
capital E
what is the equation for the electric field at point P?
F = q × E or E = F/q
what are the units for the electric field at point P?
unit for electric field is newtons per coulomb (NC−1)
what equation is really similar to the Colombs law equation?
electric field due to a point charge equation
What’s the difference between the Colombs law equation and the electric field due to a point charge equation?
there is one less Q (charge) and the start has E (electric force) instead of F (force)
what happens if the source charge is positive?
source charge is positive the electric field points away
from the source charge.
