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| the magnitude of an electric field at a point equal to the force that would be exerted on a small unit charge placed at the point |
| a progressive disturbance propagated in a medium without progress or advance by the points themselves, as in the transmission of sound or light |
| line of force | |
| —n | |
| an imaginary line representing a field of force, such as an electric or magnetic field, such that the tangent at any point is the direction of the field vector at that point | |
| line of force
A line used to indicate the direction of a field, especially an electric or magnetic field, at various points in space. The tangent of a line of force at each point indicates the orientation of the field at that point. Arrows are usually used to indicate the direction of the force. See Note at magnetism. |
line of force
in physics, path followed by an electric charge free to move in an electric field or a mass free to move in a gravitational field, or generally any appropriate test particle in a given force field. More abstractly, lines of force are lines in any such force field the tangent of which at any point gives the field direction at that point and the density of which gives the magnitude of the field. The concept of lines of force was introduced into physics in the 1830s by the English scientist Michael Faraday, who considered magnetic and electric effects in the region around a magnet or electric charge as a property of the region rather than an effect taking place at a distance from a cause
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