Point charge

nounStandard termElectrotechnology

An idealized model of an electrically charged object with no physical dimensions.

A point charge is a theoretical construct used in electromagnetism to represent a particle that carries an electric charge but occupies zero volume. This idealization simplifies the calculation of electric fields and forces using Coulomb's law, as it removes the need to account for charge distribution across a complex surface or volume.

Heard on the job

To estimate the electric field strength near the high-voltage terminal, we modeled the corona source as a simple point charge.