Question

Can electric fields be negative?

Answer 1

Hint: Electric charge is the product of electric current and the time. Electric charges are of two types and that are positive charge and negative charge. Positive charges are protons and negative charges are electrons
Electric charge (q or e) = current $\times $ time
Positive charge does not give any electric field at center, the negative charge gives electric field.

Complete answer:
The space around a charge is always under stress and experiences a force on another charge when placed there. The region or space in which stress exists is called the electric field (or dielectric or electrostatic) field. The stress in the space is represented by the lines of force. Electric field is a vector quantity.
An electric field which is a force experienced by the charge divided by the magnitude of the charge and the magnitude of the charge is the modulus value of the charge.so if the charge is negative in nature, its magnitude will also be positive and therefore, an electric field can never be negative.
Electric field is a vector and thus has negative and positive directions. If an electron being negatively charged experiences a force against the direction of the field and if an electron is positively charged, it experiences a force along the field.

Note: Magnitude of electric field is obtained by coulomb’s law and in case of a unit stationary point charge coulomb’s law derivation formula is similar to gauss law derivation. When two charged bodies are placed near each other, mechanical force is experienced on them. Force is a vector quantity.