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By Definition Electric field vectors point in the same direction as the electric force that a (hypothetical) positive test charge would experience, if placed in the field. Electric Field Lines are generated by connecting all of electric field vectors together, forming continuous lines and curves.

  1. What does electric field line actually represent

My search tells me it represents the path any charge would take but then force vector direction is tangent? but it is not a path taken? Fact ref what is paradox here.

  1. How is magnitude of the field, indicated by the field line density? ref seems that the this representation is the cause of my lack of understanding? What am i missing here?
Sage
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  • That starts from 0:00 of the video, did you want to time stamp some part – tryst with freedom May 18 '23 at 06:54
  • This question has been discussed many many times in this site – tryst with freedom May 18 '23 at 06:55
  • E-field lines are integral curves of the E-field. You can think of an E-field line as the path of a charged particle moving in very viscous fluid (think honey), whose drag force prevents the particle from building up momentum and getting "off-track". – Puk May 18 '23 at 07:30
  • @Tryst with Freedom time stamp in ref fact 19:23 – Sage May 18 '23 at 09:10
  • About closeness of lines and field strength... The positive correlation is obvious for the simplest case: the field due to a spherically symmetric charge distribution: the field lines are radial and get further apart the further you go from the centre. Indeed, as long as you start off with many lines, the number of them passing through an area of spherical surface, per unit area is proportional to $1/r^2$. It can no doubt be shown that the correlation works for any configuration of static charges. It won't work (unless put in by hand) for the electric field around a changing magnetic field. – Philip Wood May 18 '23 at 17:04

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