Question

If you determined the electric field intensity in a field using a test charge of 1.0×10−6 C and then repeated the process with a test charge of 2.0×10−6 C, would the forces on the charges be the same? Would you find the value for E?

Answer 1

The force F exerted by an electric field on a test charge q is given by:

`F=qE`

From this equation we notice that if we change the test charge then the force will change as well.

Therefore, the forces on the charges will not be the same.

We can't determine the electric field without further information on the problem; we need the force on one of the test charges to determine the magnitude of the field.