Yes, You Can Map Out an Electric Field at Home

Just like the gravitational field is the force per unit mass, the electric field is the force per unit charge. This increases the gravitational potential energy of the ball.The same thing can be done with an electric field and an electric force. This is actually the change in electric potential energy per unit charge, but we often are lazy and just call it "potential" or "voltage," since it's measured in units of volts. You can't really measure the electric field directly—but you can measure the electric potential difference. These two plates have an electric potential difference of 6 volts.The device on the right with the black cables is the voltmeter (technically, it's a multimeter, since it measures more than just electric potential). That way I can measure the electric potential at those points with respect to the negative plate.(Oh, just a quick comment. Similarly, the lines on the electric potential plot are made of a bunch of points at the same electric potential (with respect to the negative plate). Here's what that looks like:Remember the relationship between the electric field and the potential. The electric field is the negative of the change in potential divided by the change in position. Honestly, that's the nice thing about these parallel conducting plates—they make a constant electric field in one direction.So, that's a quick introduction to electric fields and electric potential difference. When a potential difference is applied to the two parallel conducting plates, there is an electrical current going through the paper.