What is the term for the space containing electric or magnetic lines of force?

• A. Flux
• B. Field
• C. Voltage
• D. Potential

Answer: (B)

In electromagnetism, a field describes the region of space where charges and currents exert influence on other charges. A field is what gives rise to the lines of force you visualize for electric and magnetic effects. The lines indicate direction and relative strength, but the real idea is the space around sources where a test charge would experience a force. That space is called a field.

Flux is a measure of how much field passes through a surface, not the space itself. Voltage or potential is a property related to energy per unit charge between points, not the region that contains the lines of force. So the term for the space containing electric or magnetic lines of force is field.