Wouldn't we say that field lines beginning on positive charge and ending on
negative charge is a corollary of Gauss' Law. That the surface integral for
magnetism yields a zero result is typically regarded as statement against
magnetic monopoles... magnetic field lines are loops with no beginning and
no ending. That the surface integral for the electric field can be non-zero
is typically regarded as a statement that electric field lines do have a
beginning (on positive charge) and an ending (on negative charge).
And now I am getting hazy and asking the same types of questions Bob is
asking... don't we further claim that the universe has equal positive and
negative charges. Don't we claim charge conservation so that when charge is
"created" it must be created in pairs... so that there definitely is a
negative charge out there some place for every field line to end on.
Michael D. Edmiston, Ph.D. Phone/voice-mail: 419-358-3270
Professor of Chemistry & Physics FAX: 419-358-3323
Chairman, Science Department E-Mail edmiston@bluffton.edu
Bluffton College
280 West College Avenue
Bluffton, OH 45817