Now let's check your predictions. 

Plot the same five charge distributions using the simulation on the Exploring Electric Fields webpage linked below. 

Exploring Electric Fields Simulation

After reading the directions for the page, choose "place a charge."  Click in the white region approximately where you want the point to go.  Keep in mind that the bottom left corner of the white region is (0,0) on the coordinate plain, and the upper right corner is (10,10).  Once you click, a new window will appear allowing you to specify the exact position of the point and the charge.  Remember: the form accepts charges as multiples of the fundamental unit of charge, just as you were given in the data tables. 

Once you have specified all the charges, reveal the field lines by choosing "trace field lines" and clicking at different points in the region. 

Note:  The program does not specify which way the field lines are going.  Can you tell which way they go?  How?

The simulation also tells you the strength of the field at any given point.  Hold the mouse over the point at which you wish to know the field, and the strength is shown (labeled "E") below the white region.

Confirm for each distribution that your field lines are accurate and that you correctly predicted the location of the strongest and weakest values of the field.