Mediaspace scheduled maintenance: Aug 25, 2026 07:00 - 12:00 AM. During this time, videos will be temporarily unavailable. Check status updates.

Lecture

Electric Field of a Line Charge

In course

PHYS-201(d): General physics: electromagnetism

The topics covered by the course are concepts of electromagnetism, properties of waves, and fluid mechanics. ...

Description

This lecture explains how to simplify calculations by assuming an infinitely long line charge, focusing on the electric field distribution along the line and the practical applications of measuring pressure in a vacuum chamber. The instructor demonstrates the step-by-step process of integrating the electric field components to find the final result, emphasizing the importance of symmetry considerations and the impact of charge distribution on the field strength.

This video is available exclusively on Mediaspace for a restricted audience. Please log in to MediaSpace to access it if you have the necessary permissions.

Watch on Mediaspace

Instructor

Dirk Grundler

Official source

Related concepts (12)

Electric field

An electric field (sometimes E-field) is the physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles and exerts force on all other charged particles in the field, either attracting or repelling them. It also refers to the physical field for a system of charged particles. Electric fields originate from electric charges and time-varying electric currents. Electric fields and magnetic fields are both manifestations of the electromagnetic field, one of the four fundamental interactions (also called forces) of nature.

Charge density

In electromagnetism, charge density is the amount of electric charge per unit length, surface area, or volume. Volume charge density (symbolized by the Greek letter ρ) is the quantity of charge per unit volume, measured in the SI system in coulombs per cubic meter (C⋅m−3), at any point in a volume. Surface charge density (σ) is the quantity of charge per unit area, measured in coulombs per square meter (C⋅m−2), at any point on a surface charge distribution on a two dimensional surface.

Electric potential

The electric potential (also called the electric field potential, potential drop, the electrostatic potential) is defined as the amount of work energy needed per unit of electric charge to move this charge from a reference point to the specific point in an electric field. More precisely, it is the energy per unit charge for a test charge that is so small that the disturbance of the field under consideration is negligible.

Electromagnetic field

An electromagnetic field (also EM field or EMF) is a classical (i.e. non-quantum) field produced by moving electric charges. It is the field described by classical electrodynamics (a classical field theory) and is the classical counterpart to the quantized electromagnetic field tensor in quantum electrodynamics (a quantum field theory). The electromagnetic field propagates at the speed of light (in fact, this field can be identified as light) and interacts with charges and currents.

Magnetic field

A magnetic field is a vector field that describes the magnetic influence on moving electric charges, electric currents, and magnetic materials. A moving charge in a magnetic field experiences a force perpendicular to its own velocity and to the magnetic field. A permanent magnet's magnetic field pulls on ferromagnetic materials such as iron, and attracts or repels other magnets.

Related lectures (31)

Paradoxes with Coulomb's and Ampère's forces. Gauss's Law

Delves into paradoxes with Coulomb's and Ampère's forces, leading to the derivation of Gauss's Law from Maxwell's equations.

Electrostatics: Basis and Applications

Explores Coulomb's law, electric fields, capacitance, conductors, and dielectrics in electrostatic systems.

Electric field and electric potential

Covers electric field, potential, field lines, and potential difference with practical examples.

Electric Fields and Potentials

Explores electric fields, potentials, point charges, and continuous distributions in electrostatics.

Atomic Structure: Charge Density and Electric Field