• The direction of electric fields is represented by electric field lines
• Electric field lines are directed from positive to negative
  • Therefore, the field lines must be pointed?away?from the?positive?charge and?towards?the?negative?charge

   

• A radial field spreads uniformly to or from the charge in all directions
  • e.g. the field around a?point charge?or sphere

   

• Around a?point charge, the electric field lines are directly radially inwards or outwards:
  • If the charge is?positive?(+), the field lines are radially?outwards
  • If the charge is?negative?(-), the field lines are radially?inwards

   

Electric field lines point away from a positive charge and point towards a negative charge

• This shares many similarities to radial gravitational field lines around a point mass
• Since gravity is only an attractive force, the field lines will look similar to the negative point charge, whilst electric field lines can be in either direction

• A uniform electric field has the same?electric field strength?throughout the field
  • For example, the field between oppositely charged parallel plates

   

• This is represented by?equally spaced?field lines
  • This shares many similarities to uniform gravitational field lines on the surface of a planet

   

• A?non-uniform?electric field has varying electric field strength throughout
• The strength of an electric field is determined by the spacing of the field lines:
  • A?stronger?field is represented by the field lines?closer?together
  • A?weaker?field is represented by the field lines?further?apart

   

The electric field between two parallel plates is directed from the positive to the negative plate. A uniform E field has equally spaced field lines

• The electric field lines are directed from the?positive?to the?negative?plate
• A radial field is considered a?non-uniform?field
  • So, the electric field strength?E?is different depending on how far you are from a charged particle

   

• Electric field lines around point charges are radially outwards for positive charges and radially inwards for negative charges
• The field lines must be drawn with arrows?from the positive charge to the negative charge