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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.
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 ...
The concept is also used for the electromagnetic fields, where fluid flow is replaced by field lines. [5] For an electric field, a source is a point where electric field lines emanate, such as a positive charge (>), while a sink is where field lines converge (<), such as a negative charge. [6]
In electrodynamics, when time-varying fields are present, the electric field cannot be expressed only as a scalar potential. Instead, the electric field can be expressed as both the scalar electric potential and the magnetic vector potential. [2] The electric potential and the magnetic vector potential together form a four-vector, so that the ...
An electric field is produced when the charge is stationary with respect to an observer measuring the properties of the charge, and a magnetic field as well as an electric field are produced when the charge moves, creating an electric current with respect to this observer. Over time, it was realized that the electric and magnetic fields are ...
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.
Schematic of the Birkeland or Field-Aligned Currents and the ionospheric current systems they connect to, Pedersen and Hall currents. [1]A Birkeland current (also known as field-aligned current, FAC) is a set of electrical currents that flow along geomagnetic field lines connecting the Earth's magnetosphere to the Earth's high latitude ionosphere.
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.