The difference between electric field and electrical charge

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Discussion Overview

The discussion centers on the differences between electric fields and electrical charges, exploring their definitions, relationships, and behaviors. Participants engage in clarifying concepts related to physics, particularly in classical contexts.

Discussion Character

  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that electric charge is a scalar quantity while the electric field is a vector quantity.
  • One participant mentions that charge is the source of the electric field, referencing Gauss's law.
  • Another participant states that electric fields can be created by charges and that charged particles experience forces due to these fields.
  • It is suggested that electric fields cannot exert forces on each other, but rather charged particles exert forces on each other through the electric fields they create.
  • A participant draws an analogy between the relationship of electric fields to electric charge and gravitational fields to mass, while requesting to avoid discussions of general relativity or quantum electrodynamics.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express differing views on the nature and relationship between electric fields and charges, with no consensus reached on the definitions or implications of these concepts.

Contextual Notes

Some statements rely on classical physics definitions, and there is an expressed desire to limit the discussion to this framework without delving into more complex theories.

franjo
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what is difference between electric field and electrical charge?
 
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Hi fran,
What a funny question. Care to elaborate ? Did you google the terms and are you unhappy with the findings ?
 
BvU said:
Hi fran,
What a funny question. Care to elaborate ? Did you google the terms and are you unhappy with the findings ?
what is difference between electric field and electrical charge? I read about electrical charges and the electric field so I do not know what the difference is between them because they both are doing the same thing they act with repulsive or attractive force on other charges.
 
franjo said:
what is difference between electric field and electrical charge?
For one, the charge is a scalar and the field is a vector. The charge is the source of the field by Gauss law: ##\nabla \cdot E = \rho ##. Also, charge is conserved.
 
Electric fields can be created by charges And If there's another charged particle, that moves within this electric field it feels a force respect to the field.

franjo said:
I read about electrical charges and the electric field so I do not know what the difference is between them because they both are doing the same thing they act with repulsive or attractive force on other charges.

Electric fields cannot exert force on each other. Charged particle exert forces each other due to the electric field that they have created.
 
The electric field has the same relationship to electric charge as the gravitational field has to mass.

(in classical physics, that is... please let's not bring general relativity into this... or quantum electrodynamics)
 
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