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Electric Field Basics
An electric field describes a funky area near any electrically charged object. Not all scientists use the word "funky", but it works. It could also be called an electrostatic field. These fields are created when a resting charge feels a force when it is near to a charged object.
Think of an electron just sitting around. All of a sudden, it feels a tingling. Someone just plugged in a television. That tingling effect is the electric field that the TV is creating. Creating the Field
A couple of things can create an electric field. They usually happen when two charges are separated. They could be either negative charges repelling each other or negative and positive charges attracting each other. The big thing to understand is that the strength of the field depends on the distance that separates the two particles. Electric fields are much stronger when the charged particles are closer to each other.
Electric fields can also be created by magnetic fields. Magnetism and electricity are always connected. We'll talk about magnetic fields in the next section. Capacitors
A capacitor is a good real world example of electric fields. Capacitors store charges. One side holds positive charges and the other side negative. The electrons have no way of moving from one area to another. As the number of electrons increases, an electric field begins to grow. In the case of a capacitor, it is a reflection of the built up electrical energy.
Capacitors will maintain the electric field as long as the positive and negative charges are present. As soon as something is triggered and the electrons are allowed to flow, capacitors lose their charge. If you begin working with electronic equipment and capacitors, you will often have to make sure that capacitors have released their energy before you begin working. If you don't, you could get a big shock or you could break the equipment when the charge is released in other ways. Studying with Faraday
A scientist named Michael Faraday studied the idea of electric fields. They are not something you can see. As you study more about electric fields, you will learn about lines of force. These lines are directions that charged particles will move to adjust themselves. Positive charges like to move toward negative charges (attraction). Negative charges like to move toward positive charges. If you put a negative charge next to another negative charge it will move away (repulsion). It will move away along the lines of force.
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Go for site help or list of physics topics at the site map!©copyright 1997-2007 Andrew Rader Studios, All rights reserved. Current Page: Physics4Kids.com | Electricity & Magnetism | Electric Fields |
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