 Free charge

In macroscopic electromagnetism, free charge is the part of the charge density represented explicitly as ${\rho }_f$, separately from bound charge associated with the electric polarization of matter. The electric displacement field satisfies $\nabla \cdot \mathbf{D}={\rho }_f$. The word free does not imply zero force or zero energy: it distinguishes this source from the polarization response in the chosen material description.