Given below are two statements :
Statement I : The electric field produced by a scalar source is known as electric charge.
Statement II : The magnetic field produced by a vector source is known as current element (I dl).
In the light of the above statements, choose the correct answer from the options given below :
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 1
The correct answer is Option (1) → Both Statement I and Statement II are true
Both statements compare the sources of the two fields. Coulomb's law gives the electric field of a charge, and the Biot-Savart law gives the magnetic field of a current element.
Statement I The electric field produced by a scalar source is known as electric charge. — Correct. The source of the electric field is the electric charge \( q \), which is a scalar quantity.
\( \displaystyle \vec{E} = \frac{1}{4\pi\varepsilon_0}\,\frac{q}{r^{2}}\,\hat{r} \)
Statement II The magnetic field produced by a vector source is known as current element (I dl). — Correct. The source of the magnetic field is the current element \( I\,d\vec{l} \), which is a vector quantity; its direction enters the field through a cross product.
\( \displaystyle d\vec{B} = \frac{\mu_0}{4\pi}\,\frac{I\,d\vec{l}\times\vec{r}}{r^{3}} \)
NCERT (2026-27):
Magnetic Field Due to a Current – “… (ii) The electrostatic field is produced by a scalar source, namely, the electric charge. The magnetic field is produced by a vector source I dl.”