Can Electric Field Lines Cross

If the lines cross each other at a given location then there must be two distinctly different values of electric field with their own individual direction at that given location.

Can electric field lines cross. Suppose electric field lines could cross what would happen if one tried to measure the electric field at the point where they crossed. The electric field at a point is the resultant of the fields created by two charges therefore at a point electric intensity has only one direction therefore no two lines can cross each other by. If the lines cross each other at a given location then there must be two distinctly different values of electric field with their own individual direction at. The short answer is if they did cross they would represent a location with two different strong electric field vectors something that can t exist in nature.

It s impossible for 2 field lines to intersect or cross because if they do that means there were two directions of electric fields at the same point. Electric field lines reveal information about the direction and the strength of an electric field within a region of space. Electric field lines represent the direction of the electric force on a positive test change. Visually the denser we draw the lines the stronger the field is.

If two electric field lines were to cross each other then at the point of crossing there would be an ambiguity regarding the direction of the force on the test charge because there would be a point at which there are two. In reality there never was a time when electric fields go to different directions. This could never be the case. Field lines never intersect each other that s why they never cross.

It makes no sense because electric field measurements just like any other measurement of a single well defined quantity can only return a single value. Hi lines of force represent the strength of the electric field at any given point. Electric field lines reveal information about the direction and the strength of an electric field within a region of space. Electric field lines reveal information about the direction and the strength of an electric field within a region of space.

Electric field lines can never cross or intersect each other. Lines of force represent the strength of the electric field at any given point. Electric field lines reveal information about the direction and the strength of an. If the lines cross each other at a given location then there must be two distinctly different values of electric field with their own individual direction at that given location.