Electric field

A charge produces something called an electric field in the space around it and this
electric field exerts a force on any other charge (except the source charge itself) in it.
Theoretically, electric field extends up to infinity but practically it is limited to a certain
distance.
Electric field intensity

The electric field intensity at a point due to a source charge is defined as the force
experienced (F) per unit positive test charge (q0) placed at that point without disturbing the
source charge, i.e.

𝐹
𝐸⃗ =
𝑞0
The intensity of electric field is often abbreviated as electric field. The electric field at
a point is a vector quantity. Its SI unit is N/C.

Electric field due to a point charge

Consider a source charge +q
placed at O and a test charge +qo is
brought to point P which is at a distance
r from the source charge. A unit vector 𝑟̂ is assigned to indicate the direction from O to P.
Charge +q repels the test charge +qo with a force 𝐹 which produces electric field 𝐸⃗ at point P
along the direction of the force. The electrostatic force of repulsion between the charges is
given by
𝑞𝑞0
𝐹=𝑘 𝑟̂ ………… (𝑖)
𝑟2
The electric field at P is given by

𝐹
𝐸⃗ = ………… (𝑖𝑖)
𝑞0

Substituting the value of 𝐹 in eqn (ii), we get

𝑞𝑞0
𝑘 𝑟̂
𝐸⃗ = 𝑟2
𝑞0
𝒌𝒒
𝑜𝑟 ⃗𝑬
⃗ = 𝒓̂ (𝑓𝑟𝑜𝑚 𝑙𝑒𝑓𝑡 𝑡𝑜 𝑟𝑖𝑔ℎ𝑡)
𝒓𝟐
The magnitude of the electric field is
𝑘𝑞
𝐸=
𝑟2
From the above equation, it follows that electric filed due to a point charge is
spherically symmetric as seen from the source charge q.

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Electric field

Electric lines of force

An electric line of force is the path along which a unit
positive charge would move if it is free to do so. It is also
called electric field line.
Properties of electric lines of force: The electric lines of
force have the following properties:
• The lines of force start from the positive charge and end at the negative charge.
• The lines of force originate (from a positive charge) or terminate (at a negative charge)
always at right angles to the surface of the charge.
• The lines of force do not pass through a conductor. It indicates that the electric field
inside a conductor is always zero.
• The lines of force never intersect each other. If two lines of force intersected at a point,
there would be two directions of electric field at the point of intersection, which is not
possible.
• The relative closeness of lines of force determines the strength of electric filed at that
region. The region, where lines of force are closer, the electric field is strong and the
region, where the lines of force are farther apart, the field is weak. The electric field is
uniform if the lines of force are parallel and equispaced.
• The lines of force contract longitudinally i.e. lengthwise. This property of lines of force
leads to explain attraction between two unlike charges.
• The lines of force exert a lateral pressure on each other. This property of lines of force
leads to explain repulsion between two like charges.
Electric dipole. A pair of two equal and opposite charges separated by a certain distanced is
called electric dipole.
Electric dipole moment (𝒑 ⃗ ). It is defined as the product of either charge (q) and the length of
the electric dipole (2a). It is a vector quantity and its direction is from positive to negative
charge.
𝑝 = 𝑞(2𝑎)
The SI unit of electric dipole moment is coulomb meter (C m).
Electric field due to a dipole on a point the axial line
Consider an electric dipole in free
space, it consists of charges -q and +q
separated by a distance 2a. Let us choose a
point P on the line joining the centres of the
two charges, at which we are to determine the
electric field such that OP = r.

Let 𝐸⃗ be the electric field due to the dipole at P. It is the vector sum of 𝐸⃗𝐴 (electric field
at P due to charge -q) and 𝐸⃗𝐵 (electric field at P due to charge +q), i.e.

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Electric field

𝐸⃗ = 𝐸⃗𝐴 + 𝐸⃗𝐵 … … … … … … … … (1)

Now,
𝑘𝑞 𝑘𝑞
𝐸⃗𝐴 = − (𝑟+𝑎)2 𝑖̂ and 𝐸⃗𝐵 = (𝑟−𝑎)2 𝑖̂

Unit vector 𝑖̂ is taken along PX.

Substituting the values of 𝐸⃗𝐴 & 𝐸⃗𝐵 in eqn (1), we get

𝑘𝑞 𝑘𝑞
𝐸⃗ = − 2
𝑖̂ + 𝑖̂
(𝑟 + 𝑎) (𝑟 − 𝑎)2

1 1
⟹ 𝐸⃗ = 𝑘𝑞 { 2
− } 𝑖̂
(𝑟 − 𝑎) (𝑟 + 𝑎)2

(𝑟 + 𝑎)2 − (𝑟 − 𝑎)2
⟹ 𝐸⃗ = 𝑘𝑞 𝑖̂
(𝑟 − 𝑎)2 (𝑟 + 𝑎)2

4𝑟𝑎 2(𝑞2𝑎)𝑟 2𝑘𝑝𝑟

⟹ 𝐸⃗ = 𝑘𝑞 𝑖̂ =𝑘 𝑖̂ = 𝑖̂
(𝑟 2 − 𝑎2 )2 (𝑟 2 − 𝑎2 )2 (𝑟 2 − 𝑎2 )2

2𝑘𝑝
⟹ 𝐸⃗ = 𝑖̂
(𝑟 2 − 𝑎2 )2

Since the direction of the dipole moment is from negative charge to positive charge
(along +𝑖̂), we may write 𝑝 = 𝑝𝑖̂, therefore

𝟐𝒌𝒑⃗𝒓
⟹ ⃗𝑬 =
(𝒓𝟐 − 𝒂𝟐 )𝟐

From the above equation, it follows that the resultant electric field and the dipole
moment have the same direction. The magnitude of the resultant electric field is given by

2𝑘𝑝𝑟
𝐸=
(𝑟 2 − 𝑎2 )2

For a short dipole i.e. r2 >> a2, a2 is negligible as compared to r2, therefore

2𝑘𝑝
𝐸=
𝑟3

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Electric field

Electric field due to electric dipole at equatorial point

Consider an electric dipole of length 2a consisting of a

pair of charges -q and +q. Let P be a point on the equatorial line
at a distance r from the dipole centre O. Each of the line joining
P to either charge make an angle 𝜃 with the dipole length. 𝐸⃗𝐴 =
⃗⃗⃗⃗ and 𝐸⃗𝐵 = 𝑃𝑀
𝑃𝐿 ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗ are the electric field at point P due to the
individual charge -q and +q respectively. 𝐸⃗ is the resultant field
at P which is represented by a vector ⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗⃗
𝑃𝑁.

𝑘𝑞
𝐸𝐴 = 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝐴
(𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 )

𝑘𝑞
𝐸𝐵 = 𝑎𝑐𝑡𝑖𝑛𝑔 𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝐵𝑃
(𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 )

Hence, EA = EB

From similar triangles ∆𝐴𝑃𝐵 𝑎𝑛𝑑 ∆𝑁𝑀𝑃, we may write

𝑃𝑁 𝑃𝑀
=
𝐵𝐴 𝐵𝑃

Now, PN = 𝐸, BA = 2𝑎, 𝑃𝑀 = 𝐸𝐵 , BP= √𝑟 2 + 𝑎2

𝐸 𝐸𝐵
∴ =
2𝑎 √𝑟 2 + 𝑎2

𝑘𝑞
2𝑎𝐸𝐵 2𝑎 𝑘(𝑞2𝑎)
(𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 )
⇒ 𝐸= = =
√𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 √𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 (𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 )√𝑟 2 + 𝑎2

𝑘𝑝
∴ 𝐸= 3
(𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑋 ′ )
(𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 )2

In vector form,

𝑘𝑝
𝐸⃗ = − 3
(𝑟 2 + 𝑎2 )2

The negative sign indicates that 𝐸⃗ and 𝑝 are opposite in directions.

For short dipole i.e. r2 >> a2, we can neglect a2 as compared to r2, therefore

𝑘𝑝
𝐸= (𝑎𝑙𝑜𝑛𝑔 𝑃𝑋 ′ )
𝑟3

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Electric field

Electric field at any point due to a short electric dipole

Consider an electric dipole AB of small length

consisting of charges -q and +q, its dipole moment is
𝑝 which direction is A to B. O is the centre of the
dipole and P is any point at a distance r from the centre
of the dipole at which the electric field to be
determined. 𝜃 = ∠𝑃𝑂𝐵

The dipole moment 𝑝 is resolved into its

rectangular components p cos 𝜃 along OP and p
sin 𝜃 along the direction perpendicular to OP.
Referring to these components, we may consider
imaginary dipoles A1B1 and A2B2 having dipole
moments p cos 𝜃 and p sin 𝜃 respectively.

Point P is an axial line for the dipole A1B1, therefore the electric field at P due to this
short dipole of dipole moment p cos 𝜃 is given by

2 𝑘 𝑝 cos 𝜃
𝐸1 = …………………… (1)
𝑟3

The same point P is an equatorial point for the dipole A2B2 of dipole moment 𝑝 sin 𝜃,
therefore the electric field due to this short dipole is given by

𝑘 𝑝 sin 𝜃
𝐸2 = … … … … … … … … (2)
𝑟3
These two electric fields are perpendicular to each other and their resultant is the electric
field 𝐸⃗ due to the dipole AB, its magnitude is given by

𝐸 = √𝐸12 + 𝐸22 …………………… (3)

Substituting the values of E1 and E2 in eqn (3), we get

2𝑘𝑝 cos 𝜃 2 𝑘𝑝 sin 𝜃 2

𝐸 = √( ) + ( )
𝑟3 𝑟3

𝑘𝑝
= √4 𝑐𝑜𝑠 2 𝜃 + 𝑠𝑖𝑛2 𝜃
𝑟3
𝒌𝒑
∴ 𝑬= √𝟑𝒄𝒐𝒔𝟐 𝜽 + 𝟏
𝒓𝟑

Let us assign an angle 𝛼 = ∠𝑀𝑃𝐾 which determines the direction of 𝐸⃗ as measured

from the line (OK) that traverses the dipole centre and the observation point.

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Electric field

𝑘 𝑝 sin 𝜃
𝐸2 𝑟3 1
tan 𝛼 = = = tan 𝜃
𝐸1 2 𝑘 𝑝 cos 𝜃 2
𝑟3
𝟏
∴ 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝜶 = 𝐭𝐚𝐧 𝜽
𝟐

The above equation determines the direction of the electric field at any point due to a
short dipole.

Electric dipole in uniform electric field (Torque)

Consider an electric dipole consisting of

charges -q and +q of dipole length 2a placed in a
uniform electric field. 𝐸⃗ is the electric field at any
point inside the region. The dipole moment 𝑝
makes an angle 𝜃 with the direction of the field.

The charge +𝑞 experiences a force of +𝑞𝐸⃗

along the direction of the electric field and the
charge −𝑞 experiences a force of −𝑞𝐸⃗ in the direction opposite to the electric field. This pair
of forces are equal and opposite but they act on different lines of action, so a torque is produced
which tends to rotate the dipole in clockwise direction. The magnitude of the torque (𝜏) so
produced is equal to the product of the magnitude of either force and the perpendicular (BC)
distance between the lines of action of the forces. Mathematically,

𝜏 = 𝑞𝐸 × 𝐵𝐶

⇒ 𝜏 = 𝑞𝐸 × 2𝑎 sin 𝜃

⇒ 𝜏 = 𝑞2𝑎 𝐸 sin 𝜃

⇒ 𝜏 = 𝑝 𝐸 sin 𝜃

Since the dipole tends to rotate in clockwise direction, in

vector notation,

⃗ =𝒑
𝝉 ⃗
⃗ ×𝑬