Drawing Equipotential Lines

Principle:  equipotential lines are always perpendicular to electric field lines.

The panel on the left displays an electric field plot.  The arrows in the field plot represent the direction and the colors represent the magnitude of the electric field.  

Potential A Potential B Potential C Potential D

What to do:

  1. Use the pencil to try your hand at sketching out equipotential lines that are every where perpendicular to the electric field lines shown.  
  2. Start a new line by clicking the "draw off" button, and positioning the pencil  somewhere along the line you wish to draw.  (Hint: drag the pencil tip - watch for your mouse pointer to change shape.)  When you are ready to draw the equipotential line, click "draw on", and drag the pencil tip to record the line.  When you have finished the line you are working on, click the "draw off" button.  Then reposition the dot, and start a new line.
  3. Do your best - they don't have to be perfect! Once you have a few of them drawn, you should be able to use your drawing to identify the correct potential plot.

Draw five or six lines, then click each Potential link, and choose the correct potential contour plot.


Which potential contour plot best corresponds to the electric field illustrated?
Potential A
Potential B
Potential C
Potential D
None are correct.

The electric field region contains two point charges. The point charge on the left is
positive.
negative.
This cannot be determined from the information given.

Which of the point charges has the greatest magnitude of charge?
Left charge.
Right charge.
Impossible to say.

The net charge of this distribution is:
positive.
negagive.
Impossible to say.



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