What is a continuous electric field?
Continuity of electric field means that the field is continuous over a region and it does not change abruptly. There is a gradual change, if any. On the other hand discontinuous electric field is the one that can change abruptly or even disappear or appear suddenly. The discontinuous fields do not exist.
How do you know if an electric field is continuous?
The imaginary lines which we when draw tangent gives the direction of electric field. So now go in a particular direction or a way to do this. Now if you draw the curve that is join all the locus points, then it will be continuous. That’s why electric field lines are continuous.
Are electric field always continuous?
Option A-No, the electric field is not always continuous. … Note- The electric field because of any charge will be continuous, if there is no other charge in the medium. It will be discontinuous if there is a charge at that viable point.
Is an electric field continuous or discrete?
We also learned that the charges creating the electric field can have a discrete distribution, if the given charges are at precise points, or a continuous distribution, if the given charge is spread out (evenly or unevenly) along a line, across a surface, or throughout a volume.
What is discontinuous electric field?
The magnitude of the electric field due to a charged spherical shell is zero inside it, maximum on its surface and then keeps decreasing as 1/r2. So the value of electric field does not vary smoothly from r = 0 to r = ? and thus it is discontinuous.
What is continuous charge?
In a continuous charge distribution, all the charges are closely bound together i.e. having very less space between them. But this closely bound system doesn’t mean that the electric charge is uninterrupted. It clears that the distribution of separate charges is continuous, having a minor space between them.
Why electric field is continuous curve?
(a) An electrostatic field line is a continuous curve because a charge experiences a continuous force when traced in an electrostatic field. The field line cannot have sudden breaks because the charge moves continuously and does not jump from one point to the other. … Hence, two field lines never cross each other.
What do you learn about electric field of continuous charge distribution?
If a charge distribution is continuous rather than discrete, we can generalize the definition of the electric field. We simply divide the charge into infinitesimal pieces and treat each piece as a point charge. Note that because charge is quantized, there is no such thing as a “truly” continuous charge distribution.
What is continuous charge distribution in physics?
When charges are continuously spread over a line, surface, or volume, the distribution is called continuous charge distribution. Charge density represents how crowded charges are at a specific point.
Why electric field lines are continuous and open loop?
If the electric field lines form a closed loop, these lines must originate and terminate on the same charge which is not possible because electric field lines always move from positive to negative. … Therefore, we say electrostatic field lines never form closed loops.
Are magnetic field lines continuous?
Magnetic field lines are continuous, forming closed loops without beginning or end. They go from the north pole to the south pole.
What is SI unit of electric flux?
Electric flux has SI units of volt metres (V m), or, equivalently, newton metres squared per coulomb (N m2 C−1). Thus, the SI base units of electric flux are kg·m3·s−3·A−1.
Is electric charge continuous?
In continuous charge system, infinite numbers of charges are closely packed and have minor space between them. Unlikely from the discrete charge system, the continuous charge distribution is uninterrupted and continuous in the conductor.
What is the difference between discrete and continuous?
The key differences are: Discrete data is the type of data that has clear spaces between values. Continuous data is data that falls in a constant sequence. Discrete data is countable while continuous — measurable.
What is called Gaussian surface?
A Gaussian surface (sometimes abbreviated as G.S.) is a closed surface in three-dimensional space through which the flux of a vector field is calculated; usually the gravitational field, the electric field, or magnetic field.