Electrical arc's e-field

it's probably more appropriate to put this in the homework sections. ( since this problem seems purely theoretical and i don't see how you could be dealing with this in real life)

i don't really know, but my guess it away from the arc, since it may be a bunch of electrons moving through air. however, it's probably not so simple since the air turns into plasma.

 

Electrons in an arc follow the direction of an electric field.

The electric field is between the two electrodes.

 

just out of curiosity, would the arc itself generate a field?

 

Yes, but a magnetic field in the form of a circular pattern concentric with the arc. This is no different to a current flowing in a wire.

 

doesn't a wire with current flowing through it have a surface charge density along its circumference that generates an e-field away from the center of the wire? can't quite remember that part of EM1 that well... I know that was the basis of most of our image theory problems -- a high-voltage, high-current "power line" above the earth-ground plane generating an E-field.