E305 ELECTRIC FIELDS AND EQUIPOTENTIAL LINES

ANALYSIS
1. As you move away from the positive terminal, what happens to the voltage
reading? What does this mean?
Electric potential energy has a dependency upon the charge of the object experiencing the electric field;
electric potential is purely location dependent. Knowing that a positive test charge would be at a lower
electric potential when held further away and the voltage is the difference in potential energy between two
points. So as the distance increases, potential decreases then the difference in potential or voltage would
increase.

2. In Part I, is the line that passes through x = 14 an equipotential line? Why or

why not?
3. In Part II, why must the outer circle be drawn using the silver ink?
This means that the electric lines are trapped inside the guard ring. The reason for this is that the guard ring
can conduct electricity since it is made up silver. As we increase the distance from the point source, the
voltage decreases.

CONCLUSION
1. What is the meaning of potential difference between two points in an electric
field?
2. In an electric field, an electric charge is released from rest. Describe the
motion of this charge.
3. Describe the relationship between equipotential lines and electric field.
Electric field is generated by the presence of electrically charged particles or
electrostatic force. While equipotential lines are defined as where every point
has equal amount of electric potential. We must also remember that
equipotential lines are always perpendicular to its electric field.
4. Is it possible for two equipotential lines to intersect? Defend your answer.
It is not possible for the equipotential lines to intersect each other, since they all follow the law of
conservation of charge in which they must trade their charge to attain a new one.

RESEARCH/APPLICATIONS
1. Electric Motors
Electric field, an electric property associated with each point in space when
charge is present in any form. The magnitude and direction of the electric field are
expressed by the value of E, called electric field strength or electric field intensity or
simply the electric field. Knowledge of the value of the electric field at a point,
without any specific knowledge of what produced the field, is all that is needed to
determine what will happen to electric charges close to that particular point. In the
discussion of electric fields one can easily grasp its importance in our modern life
from the compass used by early travellers to the technology used in our VCRs. One
example of which is electric motors,

An electric motor is an electrical machine that converts electrical energy into

mechanical energy. The reverse of this would be the conversion of mechanical
energy into electrical energy and is done by an generator. In normal motoring
mode, most electric motors operate through the interaction between an electric
motor's magnetic field and winding currents to generate force within the motor. In
certain applications, such as in the transportation industry with traction motors,
electric motors can operate in both motoring and generating or braking modes to
also produce electrical energy from mechanical energy. Found in applications as
diverse as industrial fans, blowers and pumps, machine tools, household appliances,
power tools, and disk drives, electric motors can be powered by direct current
(DC) sources,

such

as

from

batteries,

motor

vehicles

or

rectifiers,

or

by

alternating sources, such as from the power grid, inverters or generators. Small
motors may be found in electric watches. General-purpose motors with highly
standardized dimensions and characteristics provide convenient mechanical power

for industrial use. The largest of electric motors are used for ship propulsion,
pipeline compression and pumped-storage applications with ratings reaching 100
megawatts. Electric motors may be classified by electric power source type, internal
construction, application, type of motion output, and so on.

REFERENCES

http://www.britannica.com/EBchecked/topic/182416/electriccharge
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_motor