Understanding Electric Field Lines: The Truth About Infinity Explained

AI Thread Summary
Electric field lines originate from positive charges and extend towards negative charges, conceptually reaching infinity. This phenomenon is grounded in classical physics, which relies on measurements to define electric fields, while Quantum Field Theory seeks to explain the underlying mechanisms. Infinity is understood as the limit of space expanding indefinitely, and this concept applies uniformly across various methods of interpretation. Positive charges move in the direction of the electric field due to the nature of the force, while negative charges move in the opposite direction because of their opposite sign. Understanding these principles clarifies the behavior of electric fields and charges in physics.
Misr
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Hello
The electric field lines comes out from a positive charge towards infinity (towards the equal negative charge)..
Oops ! confused again bout infinity
Why is this true?
Thanks
 
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It is true because it is measured. All of classical physics takes the electric field as a given based on measurements. Quantum Field Theory attempts to explain the mechanism.
 
It is not that sophisticated its a simple question
What is the definition of infinity in this case??
also why does the +ve charge move in the direction of electric field while -ve one moves opposite to the direction of electric field?
 
Misr said:
It is not that sophisticated its a simple question
What is the definition of infinity in this case??
also why does the +ve charge move in the direction of electric field while -ve one moves opposite to the direction of electric field?

*shrug* Infinity is the limit of the volume of space increasing to infinite volume. You can do this in a variety of ways. Take a sphere and take the limit of the sphere's radius to infinity for example. For this problem it shouldn't matter how you do it as the limiting cases should be the same.

The electric field is a field that applies a force on a test charge, specifically it is qE (E is a vector here) as given by the Lorentz force. Since positive and negative charges have opposite signs, the direction of the force is opposite.
 
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