direction of electric field

[klee92181]

Hi,

I understand that for a positive charge, the EF goes outward and for a negative charge, the EF goes inward, but my question is in what direction does the EF point when a positive charge is moving to the right between 2 plates and when a negative charge is moving to the right in between 2 plates? Is the direction of the EF always in the direction of the acceleration of the charge (regardless of positive or negative)?

Thanks!

[admin]

The situation that you have described is not quite clear.

To be specific: you mention 2 plates. Are the plates charged? If so, there will be an electric field, perpendicular to the plates, directed from the positive plate to the negative plate.

You correctly described the EF for charges that are not in motion.


For a positive charge flowing in a current carrying wire, the direction of the EF is described by the Right Hand Rule.