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Question

Question: Why two electric lines of force/field cannot intersect each other?...

Why two electric lines of force/field cannot intersect each other?

Explanation

Solution

To answer this question, we need to first learn the definition and properties of electric lines of force/field.
Electric lines of force are the imaginary lines or curves, to which if we draw a tangent at any point, it gives the direction of the electric field at that point.

Complete step by step solution:
In the question we are asked why two electric line of force/field cannot intersect each other, let us see what happens when two electric line of force/field intersect each, in the figure below two electric line forces 1 and 2 intersect each other at point A. Now if we draw a tangent at point A it will give direction of electric field at point A.

From the above figure we can see there are two tangents possible in different directions and the tangent gives the direction electric field which means at point A electric field is in two different directions which is not possible.

Note: Students may think that these are actual lines of force which exist around a charge particle, but there is no existence of any such line around the charge, it is only a symbolic representation that is used to show the presence of electric field in a region. These lines are imaginary in nature.