Electric field due to system of charges
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Electric field due to a charge at a point is the force that a unit positive charge would experience if placed at that point.
The charge generating electric field is called source charge and the charge which experiences this field is called test charge. Practically, to keep source charge undisturbed due to the electric field of test charge, the test charge is kept infinitely small.
Since F( Force) is proportional to q( Charge), the electric field is independent of q but depends on r( space coordinates).
o The electric field is symmetric in spherical coordinates. o
The concept of Electric field is used to account for the time delay for a charged body to experience force from the field of a source charge.
Electric field due to system of charges
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According to the superposition principle, the total electric field at a point in space is equal to the vector sum of individual fields present.