Electric field is something that is emitted by charge and permeates space. This field will place a force on any charged object placed in the field. The strength or magnitude of the field gets weaker the further you get from the charge. We are going to investigate the properties of this field. You will be asked to go through a series of exercises using computer software.
There are two programs that you will use this week. The first is the Electric Field Hockey program in which you have an electrically charged puck and you place patches of charge to deflect the puck around barriers and into a goal. The objective of the first exercise is to have you become familiar with the electrostatic effects that charges have on one another. As you go through the exercises remember that there will often be many solutions.
Proceed to the first exercise by opening the overview folder in the directory on the right hand side and clicking on the Exercise 1 link.