The difference between electric field and electrical charge

AI Thread Summary
Electric charge and electric field are distinct concepts in physics, with charge being a scalar quantity and the electric field a vector quantity. Electric charges create electric fields, which exert forces on other charges, leading to attractive or repulsive interactions. While electric charge is conserved, electric fields can vary based on the presence and movement of charges. Additionally, electric fields themselves do not exert forces on one another, unlike charged particles that interact through their respective fields. Understanding these differences is crucial for grasping fundamental concepts in classical physics.
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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