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lamplamp
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The final answer is positive as shown in the printed solution. The field is pointing in the +x direction. E field = negative derivative of the potential times unit vector. If potential at x was negative as your are suspecting, and 0 at infinity, the derivative is > 0 and negative derivative is <0 , giving a field pointing in the wrong direction. See the link posted:

Why does this line integral give the wrong sign?

lamplamp
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