what is electric field?

Question

frostbite · Answer

An electric field is a bit vaguely said a vector field that describe the electric force (Coulomb attractions and repulsions).

kainui · Answer

Another way you might say it is that an electric field tells you what direction charged particles (like electrons or protons) would go if they were there.

anonymous · Answer

thanks

theeric · Answer

Adding to the two other responses...

The electric field is a vector field. At any point in space, the electric field determines the magnitude of force that an electric charge (with given magnitude) will experience due to the field.

$\vec E=\dfrac{\vec F}{q}$   by that description. So $\vec F=\vec E\ q$. There, $q$ is the charge that is affected by the field.

$\overrightarrow{F_\text{electric}}=k\dfrac{q_1\ q_2}{\vec r^2}\\ \\ \\implies\dfrac{\overrightarrow{F_\text{electric}}}{q_2}=k\dfrac{q_1}{\vec r^2}$

So $\vec E=k\dfrac{q}{\vec r^2}$, also. There, the $q$ is the charge that creates the field.

Anyone, feel free to correct me! :)

anonymous · Answer

Freelance teacher explains it very well in a understandable way. I think you might run into this problem again once you get to electric potential. he explains it with it's units N/C, if you have a 9N/C electric field in that point of space a 1 C test charge with feel a 9N force, so its the force a charge will feel in the space that the electric field exists. Check out freelance-teacher.com for these EM stuff he's a genius.