supported by
the National Science Foundation
written by
John Belcher
designer:
Michael Danziger
This is a Quicktime animation of the destruction of an electric field. It initiates with five negative and five positive charges, all of equal magnitude and separated by a distance L in space. One by one, the five positive charges are moved at constant velocity from their initial position to the location of the negative charges. The user can observe the strength of the electric field decreasing as each positive charge is moved into place. The item may be viewed as a video or in stepped motion.
This item is part of a larger collection of visualizations developed by the MIT TEAL/Studio Physics Project to support an introductory course in electricity and magnetism. Lecture notes, labs, and presentations are also available as part of the MIT Open Courseware Repository: MIT Open Courseware: Electricity and Magnetism
Please note that this resource requires
Quicktime.
<a href="https://www.compadre.org/introphys/items/detail.cfm?ID=9953">Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field. May 24, 2008.</a>
J. Belcher, MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field (2004), <http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/DestroyField/destroyField.htm>.
Belcher, J. (2008, May 24). MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field. Retrieved April 7, 2025, from http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/DestroyField/destroyField.htm
Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field. May 24, 2008. http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/DestroyField/destroyField.htm (accessed 7 April 2025).
Belcher, John. MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field. 2004. 24 May 2008. National Science Foundation. 7 Apr. 2025 <http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/DestroyField/destroyField.htm>.
%A John Belcher %T MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field %D May 24, 2008 %U http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/DestroyField/destroyField.htm %O video/quicktime
%0 Electronic Source %A Belcher, John %D May 24, 2008 %T MIT Physics 8.02: Electrostatics - Destroying an Electric Field %V 2025 %N 7 April 2025 %8 May 24, 2008 %9 video/quicktime %U http://web.mit.edu/8.02t/www/802TEAL3D/visualizations/electrostatics/DestroyField/destroyField.htm
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A companion animation by the same authors that depicts the opposite phenomenon: the creation of an electric field through charge separation. Strength of field increases as positive charges are moved one-by-one to a location of L distance from the initial position.
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