Jove
Visualize
Contact Us
JoVE
x logofacebook logolinkedin logoyoutube logo
ABOUT JoVE
OverviewLeadershipBlogJoVE Help Center
AUTHORS
Publishing ProcessEditorial BoardScope & PoliciesPeer ReviewFAQSubmit
LIBRARIANS
TestimonialsSubscriptionsAccessResourcesLibrary Advisory BoardFAQ
RESEARCH
JoVE JournalMethods CollectionsJoVE Encyclopedia of ExperimentsArchive
EDUCATION
JoVE CoreJoVE BusinessJoVE Science EducationJoVE Lab ManualFaculty Resource CenterFaculty Site
Terms & Conditions of Use
Privacy Policy
Policies

Related Concept Videos

Electric Field Lines01:25

Electric Field Lines

8.7K
The three-dimensional representation of the electric field of a positive point charge requires tracing the electric field vectors, whose lengths decrease as the square of their distance from the charge and which point away from the charge at each point. This vector field is no doubt challenging to visualize. The visualization of electric fields becomes quickly intractable as the number of charges increases.
The solution to this problem is to use electric field lines, which are not vectors but...
8.7K
Electric Field of a Non Uniformly Charged Sphere01:22

Electric Field of a Non Uniformly Charged Sphere

2.0K
Gauss's law states that the electric flux through any closed surface equals the net charge enclosed within the surface. This law is beneficial for determining the expressions for the electric field for a particular charge distribution if the electric flux is known.
Consider a non-uniformly charged sphere, for which the density of charge depends only on the distance from a point in space and not on the direction. Such a sphere has a spherically symmetrical charge distribution. Here, the electric...
2.0K
Electrostatic Boundary Conditions01:16

Electrostatic Boundary Conditions

772
Consider an external electric field propagating through a homogeneous medium. When the electric field crosses the surface boundary of the medium, it undergoes a discontinuity. The electric field can be resolved into normal and tangential components. The amount by which the field changes at any boundary is given by the difference between the field components above and below the surface boundary.
The surface integral of an electric field is given by Gauss's law in integral form and is related to...
772
Equipotential Surfaces and Conductors01:16

Equipotential Surfaces and Conductors

4.0K
For a conductor in which all charges are at rest, the conductor's surface is equipotential. The electric field is always perpendicular to equipotential surfaces. Therefore, in a conductor with static charges, the electric field just outside the conductor is always perpendicular to the conductor's surface. Any tangential component of the electric field will cause charges to move inside the conductor, which will violate the electrostatic nature of the system. In an electrostatic...
4.0K
Electric Field01:16

Electric Field

11.9K
Consider two point charges, each exerting Coulomb force on the other. It is possible to describe the Coulomb interaction via an intermediate step by defining a new physical quantity called the electric field.
In the new picture, imagine that the first charge sets up an electric field independent of all other charges in the universe. When another charge comes in its vicinity, the second charge experiences an electric force depending on the electric field at that point. The source charge does not...
11.9K
Electric Field of a Charged Disk01:23

Electric Field of a Charged Disk

2.9K
The simplest case of a surface charge distribution is the uniformly charged disk. Calculating its electric field also helps us calculate the electric field of a large plane of charge.
The system's symmetry is in the cylindrical directions across the plane of the charge. As a result, the electric fields created by various surface charge elements nullify each other in the direction parallel to the surface. Thereby, the resulting electric field is perpendicular to the plane. Since the disk is...
2.9K

You might also read

Related Articles

Articles linked to this work by shared authors, journal, and citation graph.

Sort by
Same author

Beyond electronic stabilization: towards a multicomponent conceptual density-functional theory for positron-driven bonding.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same author

Leveraging Chemical Hidden-Space Representations Effectively in Bayesian Optimization for Experiment Design through Dimension-Aware Hyperpriors.

Journal of chemical theory and computation·2026
Same author

The Future of Foundation Machine Learning Potentials and DFT in Homogeneous Catalysis: Competition or Synergy?

Chemistry (Weinheim an der Bergstrasse, Germany)·2026
Same author

Revisiting the Maximum Hardness Principle: A Quantitative Analysis on Reaction Datasets.

Journal of computational chemistry·2026
Same author

How to evaluate aromaticity under pressure? Benzene as a benchmark system.

Chemical science·2026
Same author

Selective Carbocation Functionalization by Catalytic Transchalcogenation Reactions.

Angewandte Chemie (International ed. in English)·2026
Same journal

Phase-transition-driven radiative-decay engineering for high-<i>Q</i> quasi-BIC states in graphene-VO<sub>2</sub> metasurfaces.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

From frameworks to functionality: a review of MOF-derived materials in emerging supercapacitor technologies.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Zn doping effects on oxygen reduction kinetics of PrBa<sub>0.5</sub>Ca<sub>0.5</sub>Fe<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5+<i>δ</i></sub> double perovskite cathode for intermediate-temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Mechanisms of the CO<sub>2</sub> and H<sub>2</sub>O co-adsorption behavior of functionalized porous carbons: perspectives of the molecular clustering effect.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

A charge-redistribution threshold governing methane dehydrogenation revealed by cerium oxide and nitride clusters.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
Same journal

Engineering Fe<sub>2</sub>WO<sub>6</sub>-based heterostructures for high-performance supercapacitors: the role of V<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub> and g-C<sub>3</sub>N<sub>4</sub> integration.

Physical chemistry chemical physics : PCCP·2026
See all related articles

Related Experiment Video

Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment
08:23

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment

Published on: May 18, 2021

3.7K

Extending conceptual DFT to include additional variables: oriented external electric field.

Tom Clarys1, Thijs Stuyver2, Frank De Proft1

  • 1Research Group of General Chemistry (ALGC), Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB), Pleinlaan 2, B-1050 Brussels, Belgium. fdeprof@vub.be.

Physical Chemistry Chemical Physics : PCCP
|January 6, 2021
PubMed
Summary
This summary is machine-generated.

This study extends conceptual density functional theory (DFT) to include electric fields, revealing how these fields influence chemical reactivity and molecular properties like atomic charges and stereoselectivity in dihalogens and H2CO.

More Related Videos

External Excitation of Neurons Using Electric and Magnetic Fields in One- and Two-dimensional Cultures
08:32

External Excitation of Neurons Using Electric and Magnetic Fields in One- and Two-dimensional Cultures

Published on: May 7, 2017

13.7K
The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids
10:03

The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids

Published on: September 30, 2014

26.8K

Related Experiment Videos

Last Updated: Nov 22, 2025

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment
08:23

Finite Element Modelling of a Cellular Electric Microenvironment

Published on: May 18, 2021

3.7K
External Excitation of Neurons Using Electric and Magnetic Fields in One- and Two-dimensional Cultures
08:32

External Excitation of Neurons Using Electric and Magnetic Fields in One- and Two-dimensional Cultures

Published on: May 7, 2017

13.7K
The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids
10:03

The Preparation of Electrohydrodynamic Bridges from Polar Dielectric Liquids

Published on: September 30, 2014

26.8K

Area of Science:

  • Theoretical Chemistry
  • Computational Chemistry
  • Quantum Chemistry

Background:

  • Conceptual Density Functional Theory (DFT) provides a framework for understanding chemical reactivity.
  • External electric fields significantly influence molecular electronic structure and properties.
  • Previous studies have not fully explored the interplay between electric fields and DFT-derived reactivity indices.

Purpose of the Study:

  • To extend the E = E[N, v] functional to incorporate external electric fields (E = E[N, v, ε]).
  • To investigate the response functions associated with electric field perturbations.
  • To analyze the impact of electric fields on chemical reactivity and stereoselectivity.

Main Methods:

  • Extension of the energy functional to include electric field dependence.
  • Identification and integration of response functions (e.g., dipole moment, polarizability, condensed atomic charges).
  • Case studies on dihalogens (F2, Cl2, Br2, I2) and formaldehyde (H2CO) under homogeneous electric fields.

Main Results:

  • Sensitivity of condensed atomic charges to electric fields correlates with atomic polarizability.
  • Non-integrated response functions reveal symmetry breaking and account for induced dipole moments.
  • Fukui functions exhibit field-dependent stereoselectivity, offering insights into reaction pathways.
  • Electronic chemical potential/electronegativity shows higher sensitivity to fields than chemical hardness.

Conclusions:

  • External electric fields can be used to tune chemical reactivity and induce stereoselectivity.
  • The extended DFT framework provides a powerful tool for predicting field-driven chemical phenomena.
  • Differences in polarization between neutral and anionic systems in electric fields can lead to enantioselectivity.