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What is a point charge?

Updated: 9/15/2023
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If the distance between two charged bodies is much greater as compared to their size,the bodies are considered as point charges.

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Q: What is a point charge?
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Why is Coulomb's law valid only for a point charge?

Coulomb's law is applied to point charges because there are "problems" applying it to a charge that has "dimension" to it. A charge is surrounded by an electric field. If we cannot treat it as a point, then the charge has to be "distributed" through the "body" of the charge. It will change the way we have to do the math. If we view charges as non-point sources, then we can't apply the mathematics to the charges in quite the same way as we do when we work things out with point sources. Take a charge that isn't a point source and one that is. If the charge that isn't a point source has "dimension" to it, then the charge on that charge (if that makes sense) is not eminating from a point but from the "body" of the charge as a whole. The electric field will be "distributed" over the volume of the body of the charge, and its effect on a point source will have to be worked out differently than it would if it was point source-to-point source.


Which is the locus of a point at which potential due to an isolated point charge is constant?

That's a spherical surface, with the charge at the center of the sphere.


What can you determine from an electric field vector at one point?

From an electric field vector at one point, you can determine the direction of the electrostatic force on a test charge of known sign at that point. You can also determine the magnitude of the electrostatic force exerted per unit charge on a test charge at that point.


What point besides infinity would the net force on a positive charge q3 be zero when a point charge q1 equals -9microcoulomb at x equals 0 and q2 equals 4microcoulomb at x equals 1.0m?

the point would be the kolwea-4 where the positive charge is q3. xoxoxo


Do electric fields point outward or inward?

We define the "direction"of an electric field to be the direction of the force it exerts on a positive test charge placed in the field. So if there is some charge inside a shell, the field outside the shell points outward if the charge inside is positive, and inward if the charge inside is negative.

Related questions

What are the differences between a test charge and a point charge?

A point charge is an electric charge that is concentrated at one mathematical point with no spacial extent, A test charge is a charge that is small enough to have no effect on a system, but is used to study a property.


Who is in charge of democracy?

The point of democracy is that the people are in charge


Is light a point charge?

No. Light does not carry a charge.


The electric field of a point charge always points away from the charge?

If the given point charge is of positive one then the field points away from the charge. This is because we define the field at a point as the FORCE acting on unit POSITIVE charge. Like charges have to repel and hence the direction. If, other wise, the point charge is negative then electric field due to this negative charge would be towards the negative and not away from it.


Why is Coulomb's law valid only for a point charge?

Coulomb's law is applied to point charges because there are "problems" applying it to a charge that has "dimension" to it. A charge is surrounded by an electric field. If we cannot treat it as a point, then the charge has to be "distributed" through the "body" of the charge. It will change the way we have to do the math. If we view charges as non-point sources, then we can't apply the mathematics to the charges in quite the same way as we do when we work things out with point sources. Take a charge that isn't a point source and one that is. If the charge that isn't a point source has "dimension" to it, then the charge on that charge (if that makes sense) is not eminating from a point but from the "body" of the charge as a whole. The electric field will be "distributed" over the volume of the body of the charge, and its effect on a point source will have to be worked out differently than it would if it was point source-to-point source.


Which is the locus of a point at which potential due to an isolated point charge is constant?

That's a spherical surface, with the charge at the center of the sphere.


If electric field lines surrounding a single point charge are directed towards the charge then the charge is?

negative


What is the direction of electrostatic field?

The Force on a point charge from another point charge is along the Line connecting between the two charges. The direction will be towards the point charge if the two charges are different and away if they are same.Now if you collection of Charges then it is vector sum of force due to each charge.


What can you determine from an electric field vector at one point?

From an electric field vector at one point, you can determine the direction of the electrostatic force on a test charge of known sign at that point. You can also determine the magnitude of the electrostatic force exerted per unit charge on a test charge at that point.


Is there a way to charge a Nintendo dsi without a charger?

the point of a charger is to charge the product


Who navigates the ship?

The navigator is in charge of the route the ship takes to get from point a to point b.


If a charge of 12C moves past a given point every two secounds how much charge is the intensity of charge flow?

That is 6 amps. One coulomb passing a point once a second is defined as one amp. Take the number of coulombs that have passed the point and divide it by the time it took the charge to pass (in seconds) and you have the current in amps.