What Does x' Represent in Electric Field Equations?

[charlotty]

now, i have absolutely no idea what the heck that means, and doubt i ever will, but my boyfriend is doing a dgree in electronic engineering and is studying fields and devices at the moment and is really stuck so i was wondering if anyone could help!

His notes say "the total e field is the vector sum over all the N charges. If we line up our axes so that the charges are on the x-axis then we get..."
a really long equation. (i would write it here, but there's no way to get all the equations symbols!)

THe equation has a x' in it, and he has no idea what the notation means.

im probably not making any sense to anyone, but i just wanted to see if i could help him (im studying for a law degree so this is all spanish to me!)

thanks so much,

charlotty

 

[marcusl]

Often a primed variable is used to indicate the position of a source while an unprimed variable is the observation point. Why not have your boyfriend post his question here?

 

[kyle8921]

Hi Charlotty,

I can understand how confusing this must be for you since you are not familiar with the subject matter. I will do my best to explain the concept of E fields from charged rods in simple terms.

First, we need to understand what an E field is. E field stands for electric field, which is a physical quantity that describes the influence of an electric charge on other charges in its vicinity. In other words, it is a measure of the force that an electric charge exerts on other charges.

Now, let's talk about charged rods. A charged rod is simply a rod made of a conducting material (such as metal) that has an excess or deficiency of electrons, making it positively or negatively charged. When these charged rods are brought close to each other, they will interact with each other through their electric fields.

The equation your boyfriend is trying to understand is most likely the mathematical expression for the total electric field at a point due to multiple charged rods. The x' in the equation is most likely a coordinate representing the position of the point where the electric field is being calculated.

I would suggest that your boyfriend consult his professor or classmates for further clarification on the notation and equations. It is important to fully understand the concepts and equations in order to solve problems and apply them in real-world situations.

I hope this explanation helps. Best of luck to your boyfriend in his studies!