How is the magnitude of an electric field calculated?

The magnitude of an electric field is calculated as the force experienced by a unit positive charge placed in that field. This concept is rooted in the definition of the electric field itself. An electric field is created by electric charges and is a vector field that describes the force exerted by these charges on other charges in the vicinity.

When a unit positive charge (1 coulomb) is placed in the electric field, the force experienced by it can be measured. The electric field strength (E) is defined mathematically as:

[ E = \frac{F}{q} ]

where ( F ) is the force experienced by the charge, and ( q ) is the magnitude of that charge. Since we are specifically evaluating it for a unit charge, this simplifies to just the force itself.

The other options describe different relationships related to electric forces and potentials but do not directly correspond to the definition of an electric field. The total charge divided by the distance squared refers to aspects of the electric field produced by point charges but does not define how the electric field strength is determined at a point in space. The product of two charges over the distance pertains to Coulomb's law and describes the force between two point charges rather than the electric field experienced by