Article
Article
Lines of force
Article By:
Winch, Ralph P. Formerly, Department of Physics, Williams College, Williamstown, Massachusetts.
Kibble, Bryan P. Formerly, Division of Electrical Science, National Physical Laboratory, Teddington, Middlesex, United Kingdom.
Last reviewed:January 2020
DOI:https://doi.org/10.1036/1097-8542.384700
Imaginary lines in fields of force F whose tangents at any point P give the direction of the field at P and whose number through unit area perpendicular to this direction represents the intensity of the field at P (see illustration). The concept of lines of force is perhaps most common when dealing with electric or magnetic fields.
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