
2–14 Electricity and Magnetism
(v) FAR FIELD At large distances away from isolated charges [or bounded distri-
butions of charge] the pattern of field lines simplifies. Field lines may even end at
infinity.
(vi) × Field lines are not permitted to intersect!
PROOF that the Field Lines May Not Cross
Suppose that two field lines intersect at some particular point in space.
Q: In what direction is the electric field pointing at the intersection of the field lines?
A: The direction is ambiguous. However, this is completely unphysical, since it would
imply that Newton’s Laws could not be employed to predict the acceleration of a charged
test particle released from ...