Question

At which point, in the figure, the magnitude of the electric field is greatest?

A. A
B. B
C. C
D. D

Answer 1

We have an electric fields line in the given figure. Electric field lines are imaginary lines drawn to represent the electric field. Considering two points ‘P’ and ‘Q’, if there are more electric field lines in the vicinity of the point ‘P’ compared to the point ‘Q’, then the electric field will be strong at the point ‘P’.

Complete answer:
In the figure given the question, electric field lines are depicted.
And we are also given the electric field potential of each line.
Four different points ‘A’, ‘B’, ‘C’, ‘D’ are marked on the lines and we are asked to find the point with the greatest electric field.
We know that, closer the electric field lines greater will be the magnitude of the electric field there.
Looking into the given figure, we can see that the electric field lines near the point ‘D’ are much closer when compared to the other lines.
Therefore, the magnitude of the electric field will be greater at the point ‘D’.

Hence the correct answer is option D.

Note:
An electric field line is drawn tangential to the net electric field at a point.
Electric field lines always point away from a positive charge and to a negative point. Or we can say that the electric fields start at a positive charge and terminate at a negative charge.

Some properties of electric field lines are,
The electric field lines never intersect each other. If they intersect, it implies that at that point the electric field has two directions. This is not possible. Hence the field lines never intersect each other.
The field lines are always perpendicular to the charge.
Electric field lines start from the positive charge and end at the negative charge.
The magnitude of charge is proportional to the number of electric field lines present.