Question

A non-uniform electric field is represented by the diagram.At which of the following points , the electric field is greatest in magnitude.

1. A
2. B
3. C
4. D
5. E

Answer 1

Hint:
- The magnitude of electric fields depends on how close the electric lines are.
- In fig, we see two types of electric field lines, uniform and non-uniform.

Complete step by step solution:
In the figure, we can see there are two sets of region
a. The first region, where the field lines are non-uniform.
b. The second region, where the field lines are uniform.

Now, if we observe,
- In the first or non-uniform region, points \[A,B,C\] reside, whereas point D resides in the second or uniform region.
- So the closest distance between the electric field lines is observed at point D.
But In the case of point A, the field lines distance is higher compare to the other points \[\left( {point{\text{ }}B,{\text{ }}C,{\text{ }}D} \right).\] So the magnitude of the electric field at point A is minimum.
- If we consider point B, we will discern that the distance between the field lines is lesser than the length at point A whereas higher than at point C and D. So the magnitude at point B will be higher than at point A but lesser than at point C and D.
- Similarly, the distance between the electric field lines at point C is lesser than at point A, B, and higher than at point D.
- Consequently, at point C, we will witness the higher magnitude than the magnitude at point A, B but lesser than at point D.
- But at point D, the distance between the electric field lines is minimum resulting in the maximum magnitude of the Electric field.

So the correct answer is option 4. D

Note:
a. The electric field lines' direction is always from positive to negative charge.
b. The magnitude of the electric field is proportional to the magnitude of the charge.
c. The number of electric field lines is proportional to the magnitude of the charge.