Finding Electric Field from Electric Potential

[uchicago2012]

Hello,

I'm working on a problem where I'm given V, the electric potential, and asked to find E, the electric field. So I took the partial derivatives and found Ex, Ey, Ez. But now I was wondering how to present this answer, since it is the components of the electric field and not the electric field. Would I simply add them together? And how would I know the direction of E, since E is a vector while V is not?

 

[gneill]

Hello,

I'm working on a problem where I'm given V, the electric potential, and asked to find E, the electric field. So I took the partial derivatives and found Ex, Ey, Ez. But now I was wondering how to present this answer, since it is the components of the electric field and not the electric field. Would I simply add them together? And how would I know the direction of E, since E is a vector while V is not?

The field is a vector quantity. It has magnitude and direction. You could present the result in raw component form, or as a magnitude with a direction specified either by angles, or perhaps as a unit vector in the appropriate direction. The precise form will depend upon the context, and how other vectors are specified in the given circumstances.