Field (physics)
From Simple English Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In physics, a field means that a physical quantity is assigned to every point in space (or, more generally, spacetime). A field is seen as extending throughout a large region of space so that its influences everything. The strength of a field usually varies over a region.
Fields are usually represented mathematically by scalar, vector and tensor fields. For example, one can model a gravitational field by a vector field where a vector indicates the acceleration a mass would experience at each point in space. Other examples are temperature fields or air pressure fields, which are often illustrated on weather reports by isotherms and isobars by joining up the points of equal temperature or pressure respectively.
[edit] See also
[edit] References
- Landau, Lev D. and Lifshitz, Evgeny M. (1971). Classical Theory of Fields (3rd ed.). London: Pergamon. ISBN 0-08-016019-0. Vol. 2 of the Course of Theoretical Physics.
