Re: [Phys-L] Field Lines and charges

[John Mallinckrodt <ajm@csupomona.edu>]

But I would say they don't even violate the maxim since they don't *really* "end."  I think it's fair to say that a field line that "ends" has a non-zero magnitude right up to the "end."  By that criterion these field lines don't end, they merely disappear.

Alternatively, I liked John Denker's approach of putting a charge of zero magnitude at the "end."

John Mallinckrodt
Cal Poly Pomona

> Yes - that is why I added the caveat of "little deep significance" - there is no contribution to the Gauss's Law integral. It was the maxim that I was really thinking of.
>
> Bob at PC
>
> > The phenomenon occurs at all X-type neutral points.  As Bob points out, it's
> > modestly amusing, but these field lines don't really so much "end" as they do
> > simply "disappear" and Gauss' law is certainly not violated.
> >
> > John Mallinckrodt
> > Cal Poly Pomona