Description and Properties of Fields

Physics SSS1 Second Term

WEEK 5

Description and Properties of Fields

Performance Objectives

Students should be able to:

1. Explain the concept of fields
2. List the types of fields and their properties

Content

Concept of Fields

We define a field as a region of space under the influence of some physical agency such as gravitation, magnetism and electricity.

Force fields are forces whose sources do not require contact with the body to which they are applied. We identify such force fields as gravitational force, electric force, magnetic force and electromagnetic force.

There are two classes of force fields-scalar fields and vector fields. A scalar field is the one that has only magnitude but no direction, e.g. temperature, energy and density. A…