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Field lines depicting the electric field created by a positive charge (left), negative charge (center), and uncharged object (right). A field line is a graphical visual aid for visualizing vector fields. It consists of an imaginary integral curve which is tangent to the field vector at each point along its length.
This analogy is usually invoked when discussing the continuity equation, the divergence of the field and the divergence theorem. The analogy sometimes includes swirls and saddles for points that are neither of the two. In the case of electric fields the idea of flow is replaced by field lines and the sources and sinks are electric charges.
The field is depicted by electric field lines, lines which follow the direction of the electric field in space. The induced charge distribution in the sheet is not shown. The electric field is defined at each point in space as the force that would be experienced by an infinitesimally small stationary test charge at that point divided by the charge.
For simplicity in calculations it is often convenient to consider a surface perpendicular to the flux lines. If the electric field is uniform, the electric flux passing through a surface of vector area A is = = , where E is the electric field (having the unit V/m), E is its magnitude, A is the area of the surface, and θ is the angle between ...
If only the electric field (E) is non-zero, and is constant in time, the field is said to be an electrostatic field. Similarly, if only the magnetic field (B) is non-zero and is constant in time, the field is said to be a magnetostatic field. However, if either the electric or magnetic field has a time-dependence, then both fields must be ...
Electric field lines are useful for visualizing the electric field. Field lines begin on positive charge and terminate on negative charge. They are parallel to the direction of the electric field at each point, and the density of these field lines is a measure of the magnitude of the electric field at any given point.
A typical one-line diagram with annotated power flows. Red boxes represent circuit breakers, grey lines represent three-phase bus and interconnecting conductors, the orange circle represents an electric generator, the green spiral is an inductor, and the three overlapping blue circles represent a double-wound transformer with a tertiary winding.
The method of image charges (also known as the method of images and method of mirror charges) is a basic problem-solving tool in electrostatics.The name originates from the replacement of certain elements in the original layout with fictitious charges, which replicates the boundary conditions of the problem (see Dirichlet boundary conditions or Neumann boundary conditions).