For two equal positive point charges, what is the direction of the individual electric field components created by each charge in the region between them?
Away from each charge
Electric field lines of a positive charge always point radially away from it.
Between two equal positive charges, the field due to the left charge points away from it (toward the right), and the field due to the right charge points away from it (toward the left).
So each individual component is directed away from its own charge; the two oppose each other and cancel only at the midpoint.
Fields toward the charge belong to negative charges; the field is not zero everywhere between them (only at the midpoint); electrostatic fields of point charges are radial, not circling, since circular field lines are a feature of magnetic fields around currents.
Hence, the answer is Away from each charge.
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Important Questions from Electric Fields and Gauss' Law
The surface charge density of a thin spherical shell placed in an air medium is 88.54 c/m2 The intensity of the electric field measured 12 mm outside the shell from the centre of the shell is 5.625 × 101 2 N/C. The thin spherical shell has a radius of:
The electric flux passing through a surface of area A = 8j m2 in an electric field vector E = 2i + 3j - 4k V/m (bold is for vectors) is:
- Let a total charge $2Q$ be distributed in a sphere of radius $R$, with the charge density given by $\rho(r) = Cr^2$, where $r$ is the distance from the centre. Two charges $A$ and $B$, of $-Q$ each, are placed on diametrically opposite points, at equal distance, '$a$' from the centre. If $A$ and $B$ do not experience any force, then:
- Two point charges $q_1 \left( {\sqrt {10} {\rm{\mu C}}} \right)$ and $q_2(-18\sqrt{2} {\rm{\mu C}})$ are placed on the x-axis at $x = 0$ m and $x = 4$ m respectively. The electric field (in V/m) at a point $(1, 3)$ m is,
$\left[ {{\rm{Take\;}}\frac{1}{{4{\rm{\pi }}{\epsilon_0}}} = 9 \times {{10}^9}{\rm{N}}{{\rm{m}}^2}{{\rm{C}}^{ - 2}}} \right]$ The electric field between the two plates of a parallel plate (area = 5.0 × 10-2m2) capacitor is given by E = (2.0 × 105 – 4.0 × 104 t) V/m where t is in second. What is the magnitude of the displacement current between the plates? (ε0 = 8.85 × 10-12 F/m)
