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After you comb your hair and keep the home down on the dressing table, then you may have noticed that the comb attracts little bits of paper on the table. The phenomenon which is responsible for this is called the electric field created by electric charge.
What is the Electric Field?
It is the field of force that surrounds any electrically charged particle and anything that is placed within the electric field will experience push or pull force. So let us study what is the electric field, the electric field formula and the concept of electric charges and field.
Electric Charges and Field
The phenomena of the electric field are caused by the electric charges. Hence, let us first get to know what electric charges are.
The matter has properties. One of the properties of matter is electric charge. It is the force experienced or exerted by a particle when it is placed in an electromagnetic field. The electric charges are of two types.
The two types of electric charges are given below:
- Positive Charges: The positive charges are caused by the protons found in atoms of matter.
- Negative Charges: The negative charges are caused by the electrons found in atoms of matter.
The positive charges repel other positive charges and attract negative charges.
Similarly, the negative charges repel other negative charges and attract positive charges.
The S.I. unit of the electric charge is Coulomb.
Now that we know what electric charges are, that is a study about how these electric charges cause the electric fields and what is an electric field.
Electric Field and How it is Caused
What is an electric field? It is the property of electric charge. The electric charge creates a field that is surrounding itself, which affects any charges that enter the field. Such a field is known as the electric field.
Let us study how such electric fields are found.
As we know, the electric charges cause the formation of electric fields.
The charge is a fundamental property of any matter. The particles which are electrically charged have protons or electrons in excess. Hence, they’re looking for protons or electrons to balance themselves. The protons get attracted to electrons and the electrons get attracted to protons.
Hence, when any positively charged or negatively charged particle is placed in the electric field of the source charge, the social charge either attracts that particle or repels that particle depending on the nature of the charge.
If the source charge is positive and the entering charge is positive, then they both repel each other. If the entering charges are negative, then they both attract each other.
Electric Field Formula
The electric field formula can be derived from its definition. But before that, how do we measure the electric field? The strength of the electric field is measured with the help of electric field intensity. The strength of the electric field is the ratio of first exalted on the test particle upon the original charge of the test particle.
So, the formula for electric field is:
E = Force/Charge
Hence, E = F/Q
The S.I unit of electric charge is Volts per metre and the C.G.S unit is Newtons per Coulombs or N/C. The Newtons per Coulombs is the most commonly used unit.
A Special Case of Steady-State
In the above formula, we have assumed that the charges are moving. However, they could also be in a steady state. This means that the challenges and the currents will be stationary. In this case, the Maxwell-Faraday inductive effect on the electric field disappears. The remaining two equations get equated to the columns law.
According to Coulomb’s law, the electric charge q1 placed at position x1 will exert a particular force at charge q0 placed at position x0, which can be calculated by the following formula:
F = [1 / (4 × π × ε0)] × [(q1 × q2)/( x1 – x0)²] × r1,0
Here r1,0 is a unit vector that points from x1 to x0.
And the term ε0 is an electric constant.
Hence, the formula for electric field based on the above formula will be as given below.
E(x0) = F/q0 = [1/(4 × π × ε0)] × [q1/(x1 – x0)²] × r1,0
The conclusions that could be drawn from the above formula are that the electric field which is produced due to a point charge will have the directions as given below.
- If the charges are positive and the electric field will be directed away from it.
- If The charges are negative, the electric field will be directed towards it.
Conclusion
The electric charges are one of the fundamental properties of matter. The electric charges are produced due to the positively charged protons and the negatively charged electrons found inside the atom of the matter. When these electric charges are placed anywhere in space, they lead to the formation of electric fields.
The strength of this electric field is equal to the ratio, of course, exerted upon the test particle and the original charge of the test particle. The electric field can be viewed as the lines of force, as stated by Michael Faraday. Denser the lines, the stronger the electric field.
