An electric field describes how electric charges influence the space around them. Any charged object creates an electric field, and this field determines the force that another charge would experience if placed nearby. The strength and direction of the electric field depend on the amount of charge and the distance from it, becoming weaker as you move farther away. Instead of thinking only about forces acting directly between charges, electric fields provide a way to understand interactions as so

Physics 12.3.4c - Electric Field Example Problems