Why do the electric field lines never cross each other?

Question

Accepted Answer

Statement: Electric field lines never cross each other.

Reason:

Step 1: Property of a single point
At any point in space, the electric field has a unique direction — it can point in only one direction at a time.

Step 2: What crossing would mean
If two electric field lines were to cross at a point, then at that point of intersection, we could draw two different tangents.

Step 3: Contradiction
These two tangents would represent two different directions of the electric field at the same point.

But this is physically impossible, as the electric field at a point can have only one direction.

Conclusion: Hence, electric field lines never cross each other.

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