The electric-field tag has no wiki summary.
9
votes
3answers
304 views
Current in a simple circuit
I was going over my notes for an introductory course to electricity and magnetism and was intrigued by something I don't have an answer to. I remember my professor mentioning, to the best I can ...
7
votes
2answers
405 views
Mechanism by which electric and magnetic fields interrelate
I read that force due to electric field on some particle in one reference frame can exhibit itself as force due to magnetic field in some other reference frame and that electric and magnetic fields ...
1
vote
2answers
469 views
Is there really no meaning in potential energy and potential?
I have been told all my physics life that potential energy between two mass/charge has no meaning and only their difference has meaning. The same goes for electric potential, only the difference ...
5
votes
5answers
447 views
Paradox with Gauss' law when space is uniformly charged everywhere
Consider that space is uniformly charged everywhere, i.e., filled with a uniform charge distribution, $\rho$, everywhere.
By symmetry, the electric field is zero everywhere. (If I take any point in ...
4
votes
2answers
201 views
How does lightning “know” where to go?
If lightning comes down in, say, a large flat field with a lightning rod sticking out of the middle, the lightning will strike the rod.
How does it "know" the rod is there?
Will it always strike the ...
1
vote
1answer
291 views
Finding the electric field for a shell of charge
Suppose we have charge density defined
$$
\rho(x,y,z) =
\begin{cases}
0 & 0 \leq r < a \\
K & a \leq r\leq b\\
0 & b< r
\end{cases}
$$
For some constants $K,a,b$
How would ...
-1
votes
1answer
234 views
What's the electric field with a point charge not in the center of the sphere? [closed]
That's a hollow conducting sphere link
My charge is at P (10uC). R = 0.15m. PS = 0.05m. DS = 0.35m. What's the electric field at point D?
2
votes
2answers
214 views
Electric field of a negative charge
How was it discovered that the electric field of a negative charge points towards the charge itself? Is it true?
(Courtesy of wikipedia)
6
votes
1answer
739 views
What is the penetration length of static electric field into conducting metals?
How large is the penetration length for static electric field into good conductors?
I have two versions: (1) few atomic spacings
$$a\sim n_{e}^{-1/3},$$
and (2) Debye length computed by Fermi ...
5
votes
3answers
212 views
Is it true that $\vec{E}\neq 0$ inside a 1- or 2-dimensional conductor?
It is known that when a conductor is placed in an electric field, the charges redistribute themselves such that $E=0$ inside the conductor. I was also told that the same is NOT true for the 2D and 1D ...
3
votes
5answers
467 views
What is the origin of the Dirac delta term in the dipole electric field?
I am a bit lost how one has deduced the formula for electric field with electric dipole because of some inconsistency between different sources. The Wikipedia article contains a delta function in the ...
2
votes
3answers
4k views
In electrostatics, why the electric field inside a conductor is zero?
In electromagnetism books, such as Griffiths or the like, when they talk about the properties of conductors in case of electrostatics they say that the electric field inside a conductor is zero.
I ...
2
votes
3answers
2k views
How does electricity flow in conductor when potential difference is applied?
Electrons move from higher potential to lower potential. When a conductor is connected to battery, electron move from negative terminal to positive terminal.
But the battery itself forms a Electric ...
1
vote
1answer
51 views
Maximum separation when 2 unlike charges shot apart
I want to compute the maximum separation when 2 unlike charges are shot apart from each other
...
1
vote
2answers
162 views
In which cases is it better to use Gauss' law?
I could, for example calculate the electric field near a charged rod of infinite length using the classic definition of the electric field, and integrating the: $$
\overrightarrow{dE} = \frac{dq}{4 ...
1
vote
2answers
90 views
Origin of field deduced from potential
Related: Tubelights+power lines pictures?
I would've edited this into the above question, but I realized that there' enough to it to qualify as a new one. Plus this seems to be a confusion of ...
0
votes
1answer
207 views
Electric field due to nonconducting sphere
For calculating electric field outside a nonconducting sphere with a hollow spherical cavity. When I use the rule (Charge density= $dQ/dV$), I don't know exactly what is $dV$, is the volume here ...
0
votes
1answer
179 views
Tubelights+power lines pictures?
I've come across many pictures like these, sometimes in chain emails reporting the dangers of power lines.
Another claim is that they run on "wasted" energy.
The explanations given are that the ...
