Why a charge collects on a body surface. The concept "electric field" is widely used in the up-to-date science. However its deep essence is unknown till now. The up-to-date published theories: theories of everything and unified field theories not uncovered its essence also. To erect the essence of an electric field, it is necessary to uncover at first according to Unified Theory of  Nature the deep cause of accumulation of a charge on a  surface of body.

The deep mechanism of this appearance is unknown to the up-to-date science, as it is not known what is a charge. In the Unified Theory the essence of a charge, essence of an electrization of body (What is the charge? see), and also the mechanism of interaction of charges (The new about electric charge see) is erected. From this it follows that if the body is electrified, then the charge carriers – the electrons – the ether microvortexes will aspire to keep away mutually and the cause of it is that the ether jets in the microvortexes have the head-on collision at their mutual contact. Then electrons will aspire to move to the field of body where this collisions are less, that is on the body surface (fig. 23). 

 Fig. 23. Pushing out of microvortexes on the surface of the charged  body (What is the charge? see above). 

Electrons are collected on the surface of the body, since outside they are pressed to the body by an ether stream – i.e. by Gravitation (Essence of Gravitation, "What is the charge?" see above). If  amount of the electrons – the ether microvortexes in the body is increased, the intervortex pressure increases. This pressure on any site of the surface of the body can exceed the exterior gravitational pressure – there is an effluxion of electrons in atmosphere. Such site of the surface, obviously, will be there where it restricts by itself the least compact field of the body – on the edge, where the microvortexes will test the minimum quantity of collisions. There can be the various electromagnetic (Essence of the electromagnetic wave see), including optical, effects at the concentrated effluxion of microvortexes – electrons  in atmosphere.

Essence of an electric field. From the stated and the electron polarization ("What is the charge?" see above) follows that the oriented on the surface of the body the microvortexes – electrons will orient the vortexes  in all the material that is about the body, including in air. Thus, the mysterious, so-called, "electric field" represents the field of a maternal ether filled with the ethereous microvortexes – electrons. Now it is possible to conclude also that the intensity of this "electric field" will be caused not by the mysterious charges, but the total of spins of the electrons in the field next to the body (see What is  a spin). Accordingly the sign of the charge of a body will be conditioned by the spines of the electrons, i.e. by the direction of the longitudinal fluxion of ether in the microvortexes  which were erected in the field about the surface of the body.