The electric field is a vector field representing the force experienced by a charged particle at a given point in space. Electric fields can be visualized graphically using electric field lines.
The magnitude and direction of the electric field at any point in space is determined by the strength of the charge generating the field and the distance from that charge. Mathematically, the electric field is given by:
Notice how this equation resembles coulombs law this is because electric field is a pre-calculation for the force a particle would experience if it was placed at a point.
This pre-calculation can be used as follows
Where
If there are multiple charges present, the total electric field at any point is found by summing the electric fields from each individual charge. This is known as superposition.
The direction of the electric field at any point is defined as the direction a positive charge would move if it were placed at that point. Therefore, the electric field lines always point away from positive charges and towards negative charges.
The electric field is measured in Newtons per Coulomb (N/C). This means that for every coulomb of charge present at a given point, the electric field will exert a force of one newton.