ELECTRIC FIELD
YEAR 12
What You Must Know
■ Electric field
■ Coulomb’s law
■ Electric field strength
■ Electric potential
■ Electric field patterns
■ Capacitors
Electric Field
■ An electric field is a region around a charged particle
where an electric force can be felt by other charges.
It is a vector quantity with both magnitude and
direction, represented by invisible lines of force.
■ Direction of Electric Field: The direction of an
electric field at a point is defined as the direction of
the force on a positive charge at that point. Charged
objects
Electric Field Patterns
Properties of Electric Lines of Force
■ Direction: They begin on positive charges and end on negative charges. For isolated charges, they
start at the positive charge and go to infinity, or from infinity to the negative charge.
■ Field strength: Where lines are closer, the field is stronger, and where they are farther apart, the
field is weaker.
■ Non-intersection: Electric field lines never cross one another.
■ Tangential direction: A tangent drawn to an electric field line at any point gives the direction of the
electric field at that point.
■ Perpendicular to surface: The lines are always perpendicular to the surface of a conductor,
whether entering or leaving.
■ Charge magnitude: The number of field lines is directly proportional to the magnitude of the
charge. A larger charge has more field lines emanating from or converging on it.
■ Uniform field: In a uniform electric field, the lines are equally spaced, parallel, and straight
Coulomb’s Law
■ It states that the force (F) between two point
charges is directly proportional to the product of
the charges (q₁ and q₂) and inversely
proportional to the square of the distance (r)
between them.
■ Formula: F = (k * q₁ * q₂) / r²
Where k is Coulomb’s constant (9 × 10⁹ Nm²/C²).
Electric Field Intensity (E)
■ Electric field intensity at a point is defined as the
force per unit positive charge placed at that point.
Formula: E = F / q
■ Unit: Newton per Coulomb (N/C) or Volt per metre
(V/m).
■ Electric Field Strength (E) is a vector.
■ Direction: The direction of E is the direction of the
force on a positive test charge.
QUESTIONS
Q1 Calculate the electric field strength at a point 0.2 m from a
point charge of +4 µC.
[Given: k = 9.0 × 10⁹ Nm²/C², 1 µC = 10⁻⁶ C]
Q2 The electron and proton of a hydrogen atom are separated
by a mean distance of 5.2 × 10⁻¹¹ m. Calculate the magnitude
of the electrostatic force between the two particles. (Charge of
−19 1
electron/proton, 𝑒 = 1.6 × 10 C, Coulomb's constant,
4𝜋𝜖0
= 9.0 × 109 Nm2 C−2 )
Electric Potential (V)
■ Electric potential at a point is the work done in
bringing a unit positive charge from infinity to that
point.
■ Formula: V = W / q
■ Unit: Volts (V). It is a scalar quantity.
■ Potential due to a Point Charge: V = (k * Q) / r
Potential Difference (P.D.)
The work done in moving a unit charge between two points in
a field.
■ In a uniform field: V = E * d
Example Problem :
What is the electric potential at a point 0.5 m from a charge of 2 × 10⁻⁸
C?
Solution:
V = (9 × 10⁹ * 2 × 10⁻⁸) / 0.5
V = 180 / 0.5 = 360 Volts