User:Mpatel/sandbox/Field (physics)
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
In physics, a field is an assignment of a physical quantity to every point in space (or, more generally, spacetime). A field is thus viewed as extending throughout a large region of space so that it's influence is all-pervading. The strength of a field usually varies over a region.
Fields are usually represented mathematically by vector fields and tensor fields. For example, one can model a gravitational field by a vector field where a vector indicates the force a unit mass would experience at each point in space. Other examples are temperature fields or air pressure fields, which are often illustrated on weather reports by isotherms and isobars by joining up the points of equal temperature or pressure.