Electric field

In physics, an electric field or E-field is an effect produced by an electric charge that exerts a force on charged objects in its vicinity. The units of the electric field are newtons per coulomb or volts per meter (both are equivalent). Electric fields are composed of photons and contain electrical energy with energy density proportional to the square of the field intensity. In the static case, an electric field is composed of virtual photons being exchanged by the charged particle(s) creating the field. In the dynamic case the electric field is accompanied by a magnetic field, by a flow of energy, and by real photons.

Related topics

• Maxwell's equations are the full set of equations governing electric fields.
• Electromagnetism
• Electrostatics
• Electrodynamics
• Magnetism