I can't understand why we have a section of absolute voltage, I mean voltage itself means potential difference so then what do we mean by "absolute voltage" and "voltage"?

Go back to the equation for Electric Potential Energy Difference (AB) in the middle of the section on Electric Potential Energy. That equation tells you how electric potential energy changes when you move a test charge from point A to point B. For example, you could be moving your test charge towards or away from some charged object. To use this equation you have to put in two locations, A and B. There are just a few oddball situations that give us some trouble... What if I told you where B was but did not mention A? I might say it this way: "What is the potential energy of a test charge when you place it at B"? Well, you need an A to answer that question. If I don't give it to you, you have to make one up. A common choice that lots of engineers and scientists make is "A is infinity away from the charged object." When we make that choice, we say we are determining the absolute potential energy, or the absolute voltage. It's the same voltage as usual, but with the assumption that the starting point is infinity away. In almost all circuits, the second point is provided and this absolute idea isn't needed.

In the 'Doing work in an electric field section', The equation we get for the small amt. of work done is dW=−qE⋅dr I get that F(ext.) is -ve since it acts opp. to the electrostatic force on q. But then why isn't 'dr' also -ve? Also, for the movement of q for that small distance 'dr' is in the same direction as that of the F(ext.). So, shouldn't 'dW' be +ve? Please do reply.

Work is positive if the force is in the same direction as the displacement, negative if it's not. You have to pay attention to which force you are talking about: The force by the field or the force by an external force. It's really better not to try to handle this by manipulating a bunch of signs. Just calculate the amount of work that's done and then ask yourself if the force was pushing in the direction of the displacement or opposite to the displacement.

Sir just for shake of awareness Does moving charge also create Electric field ? & Does static charge also create Magnetic field ?

Yes, a moving charge has an electric field. No, a static charge does not create a magnetic field. A moving charge creates a magnetic field. You can see this if you pass a current through a wire (moving charge) and hold it near a compass. The compass will tip to the side. The science of moving charges is called electrodynamics or electromagnetism.

I understand the term of electric potential difference between two particles , but how do we define the electric potential difference between two charged plates that are fixed ? Like I know the equation Delta V = Ed , but can someone explain it ? Thanks

We can find the potential difference between 2 charged metal plates using the same formula V=Ed. Consider 2 infinite metal plates fixed with distance 'd' between them( this situation can be approximated in real life as the areal dimensions of metal plates are large compared to distance between them). To find the potential difference the plates find the net electric field between them and multiply it with distance between the plates. Electric field due to infinite charged metal plate using integration method:- https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/electric-charge-electric-force-and-voltage/electric-field/v/proof-advanced-field-from-infinite-plate-part-1 https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/electric-charge-electric-force-and-voltage/electric-field/v/proof-advanced-field-from-infinite-plate-part-2 Electric field due to infinite charged metal plate using Gauss law:- https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-j0vE8rHYE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOv4xxopQFQ

how much voltage is there in a electric fence.

It depends on the fence... Agricultural fence chargers are designed to produce several thousand volts. It is important to note that the voltage is NOT continuous. Instead the voltage is pulsed for short amount of time. The result is akin to a static electric shock. Regrettably there are some fences in the world designed to deliver lethal shock. I'd rather not think about those... Regards, APD

So, basically we said that Fex=-qE=Fe because the difference between them is negligible, but actually speaking, the external force is a little greater than the the electrostatic force ? Am I getting this right? Got another question, what's exactly this "external force" that does work on the charge to move it, in case of charges moving in a circuit, what causes these charge to move from the source in the first place ?

If you want to actually move a charge, you have to apply an ever-so-slightly greater force to the charge to get it to start moving. It is important not to push too long or too hard because we don't want the charged particle to accelerate. (If it accelerates then all sorts of new physics starts to happen involving magnetism, which at the moment is way over our heads.) For now we make our charges sit still (static) or we move them super slow where they move but they don't accelerate, a condition called "pseudo-static". In this general definition of of electric potential you can imagine any external force you want pushing the charge. If I do the experiment with a charged balloon, I can use my hand to push the charged object towards another. In a circuit, charges move because they are repelled from like charges and attracted to unlike charges. A chemical reaction near the negative terminal of a battery releases an excess number of electrons in the vicinity (in the attached wire). Electrons in the wire are repelled from this concentration and move away, towards the positive battery terminal. There is a different chemical reaction happening at the positive terminal that absorbs electrons, creating a deficit of electrons for a net positive charge in the region near that terminal. Nearby electrons are attracted and move toward the positive terminal.

Main content

Course: Electrical engineering > Unit 5

Lesson 2: Fields, potential, and voltage

Electric potential, voltage

Google Classroom

Formal definition of electric potential and voltage. Written by Willy McAllister.

Coulomb's Law lets us compute forces between static charges. Now we explore what happens if charges move around. We find out what it means to do work in an electric field and develop formal definitions of some new concepts.

electric potential energy
electric potential (also known as voltage)

Electric force and electric field are vector quantities (they have magnitude and direction). Electric potential turns out to be a scalar quantity (magnitude only), a nice simplification.

Let's set up a simple charge arrangement, and ask a few questions. Begin with two positive point charges, separated by some distance

r_{A}

. In this discussion,

Q

will stay fixed in place, and

q

(our test charge) will move around.

Q

repels

q

(and vice versa), with a force described by Coulomb's Law,

F = \frac{1}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{q Q}{{r_{A}}^{2}}

Said another way in terms of electric field,

Q

establishes a field everywhere in space,

E = \frac{1}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{Q}{r^{2}}

(the direction of

Q

's field is along a radial line pointing away from

Q

At distance

r_{A}

away from

q

, the electric field is specifically,

E = \frac{1}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{Q}{{r_{A}}^{2}}

We can restate the force on

q

from

Q

in terms of electric field as,

F = q E

The little dude in this image emphasizes that something has to hold

q

in place. In a minute, we'll put the little dude to work.

Work and potential energy

Force is any interaction that changes the motion of an object. A push or pull.

F = m a

The general definition of work is "force acting through a distance" or

W = F \cdot d

. In electric field notation,

W = q E \cdot d

Energy is "the ability to do work." When an object has energy, it has the ability to do work.

When a force does work on an object, potential energy can be stored. An object with potential energy has the potential to do work. (It's not doing work right now, but it has the potential.) An object has potential energy by virtue of its position.

Work and potential energy are closely related. Additional potential energy stored in an object is equal to the work done to bring the object to its new position.

You can brush up on the concepts of work and energy in more depth here.

Field

A field is a region of space where we observe forces. Gravity, electricity, and magnetism create fields.

A field is conservative if an object travels in a closed path (makes a round trip) and no net work is done against the force associated with the field.

Gravity is conservative. When you lift a book up, you do work on the book. If you gently lower the book back down, the book does work on you. The net amount of work is zero. You can raise and lower a hundred times, and if the book ends up in the original height, the net amount of work is zero. If you move the book horizontally, the amount of work is also zero, because there is no opposing force in the horizontal direction.

A static electric field is conservative. No matter what path a charged object takes in the field, if the charge returns to its starting point, the net amount of work is zero.

Electrical potential energy resembles gravitational potential energy

The behavior of charges in an electric field resembles the behavior of masses in a gravitational field. Just like gravitational potential energy, we can talk about electric potential energy.

There are two differences between electric fields and gravity to keep in mind,

Electric charges can attract (like gravitational masses), but can also repel (which masses never do). Like charges move as far apart as possible.
Our usual experience with gravity happens close to the surface of Earth, over tiny distances relative to the size of our planet. For earthly problems, the force from gravity is often treated as a constant. For electric problems, we take $1 / r^{2}$ ‍ into account. This makes the math a little more challenging, but it's not too bad.

For both gravity and electricity, potential energy differences are what's important. Wherever your book starts out, it has some potential energy. When you move the book, you add or remove potential energy relative to where it started. For moving charges, you add or subtract electric potential energy relative to where the charge started.

If you wonder if an object is storing potential energy, take away whatever might be holding it in place. If the object moves, it was storing potential energy. An apple falls from a tree and conks you on the head. It had potential energy. Let go of a charge in an electric field; if it shoots away, it was storing electric potential energy.

Doing work in an electric field

What happens if we move

q

closer to

Q

? How much work is done? To move

q

towards

Q

, we have to push on

q

just hard enough to overcome the repulsive electric force.

In general, for electrostatics problems, we want the movement of

q

to be quasi-static, so we don't have to worry about the kinetic energy of moving bodies. In a quasi-static process, we apply a net force just barely greater than

q \vec{E}

, or make sure

\vec{F} - q \vec{E}

is vanishingly small. The displacement of

q

happens without speeding it up, so there is no kinetic energy term. Going this slow means moving

q

will take infinite time to happen. This doesn't bother us, because we are only going to talk about it, not wait for it to happen.

How much work is done moving $q$ ‍ from point $A$ ‍ to point $B$ ‍ in an electric field?

When charges move in an electric field, something has to do work to get the charge to move. To move

q

, we apply a force to just barely overcome the repulsive force from

Q

Let's work it out:
The amount of work done is force times distance,

W = F \cdot d

. The distance moved is

(r_{A} - r_{B})

. What is the force? This is a bit trickier, because the force changes all along the path. The closer we get to

Q

, the greater the force of repulsion. The closer we get, the harder we have to push to make

q

move. Set up some variables so we can talk about what's going on here.

$r$ ‍ is the distance from $Q$ ‍ to the current position of $q$ ‍.
$d r$ ‍ is a tiny change in distance. $d r$ ‍ is so tiny we can consider the electric force constant over this distance.

In any electric field, the force on a positive charge is

F = q E

The external force required points in the opposite direction,

F_{e x t} = - q E

For our specific example near a point charge, the electric field surrounding

Q

is,

E = \frac{1}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{Q}{r^{2}}

And the external force required to move

q

is,

F_{e x t} = - q E = - q \cdot \frac{1}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{Q}{r^{2}}

To deal with the problem of the force changing at every point, we write an expression for the tiny bit of work needed to move

q

by a tiny

d r

. The assumption we make is that we can make

d r

so tiny the force is effectively constant over that distance. From the definition of work,

d W = - q E \cdot d r = - q \frac{1}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{Q}{r^{2}} d r

To figure out the total work for the trip from

A

B

, sum up all the tiny work amounts,

W_{A B} = \int_{r_{A}}^{r_{B}} - q E \cdot d r

W_{A B} = - \frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \int_{r_{A}}^{r_{B}} \frac{1}{r^{2}} d r

Solving the definite integral,

W_{A B} = - \frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \cdot (- \frac{1}{r}) |_{r_{A}}^{r_{B}}

The external work to bring a charge

q

from

A

B

near a point charge,

Q

is,

W_{A B} = \frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} (\frac{1}{r_{B}} - \frac{1}{r_{A}})

Electric potential energy

Question: How has $q$ ‍'s potential energy changed?

The change of potential energy stored in

q

is equal to the work done on

q

to bring it from

A

B

{electric potential energy difference}_{A B} = \int_{r_{A}}^{r_{B}} - q \vec{E} \cdot d r = \frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} (\frac{1}{r_{B}} - \frac{1}{r_{A}})

Like work, electric potential energy is a scalar quantity.

We now do a small manipulation of this expression and something special emerges. This line of reasoning is similar to our development of the electric field.

Multiply out the terms,

{electric potential energy difference}_{A B} = (\frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{1}{r_{B}}) - (\frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{1}{r_{A}})

Give the two terms a name so we can talk about them for a second. Let,

U_{r} = \frac{q Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{1}{r}

U_{r}

represent the electric potential energy stored in charge

q

when it is distance

r

away from

Q

. The change in energy going from

A

B

can be written as,

{electric potential energy difference}_{A B} = U_{B} - U_{A}

U_{A}

and

U_{B}

are associated with a single location in space. That is,

U_{B}

only depends on location

B

, and

U_{A}

only depends on location

A

. (And both depend on the values of

q

and

Q

.) This suggests

U

can be viewed as a property of a location. We can think of electric potential energy as a field existing in the space around

Q

. Potential energy is a scalar quantity, so a potential energy field is a scalar field. It has a magnitude everywhere in space, but does not have direction. (Another example of a scalar field is the temperature everywhere in a room.)

Also, notice the expression does not mention any other points, so the potential energy difference is independent of the route you take from

A

B

. This is a consequence of the conservative nature of electric fields.

Electric potential difference

With another simplification, we come up with a new way to think about what's going on in an electrical space. The equation above for electric potential energy difference expresses how the potential energy changes for an arbitrary charge,

q

when work is done on it in an electric field. We define a new term, the electric potential difference (removing the word "energy") to be the normalized change of electric potential energy.

electric potential e n e r g y {difference}_{A B} = \frac{U_{B}}{q} - \frac{U_{A}}{q}

Electric potential difference is the change of potential energy experienced by a test charge that has a value of

+ 1

Electric potential energy difference has units of joules.
Electric potential difference has units of joules/coulomb.

Electric potential

We can give a name to the two terms in the previous equation for electric potential difference. We can say there is an electrical potential everywhere in space surrounding

Q

, expressed as,

electric potential = \frac{U_{r}}{q}

It might seem strange to think about this as a property of space. (But no stranger than the notion of an electric field.) It is basically saying if we put a unit test charge at this location, it would have this potential energy. Take away the unit charge, and the property of space still remains.

We can use the concept of electric potential to run this whole discussion in reverse. Suppose we know what the electric potential looks like in some region of space. We can figure out the work required to move a charged object between two locations by,

Subtracting the starting potential from the ending potential to get the potential difference, and
Multiplying potential difference by the actual charge of the introduced object.

Electric potential near a point charge

Near a point charge, we can connect-the-dots between points with the same potential, showing equipotential contours. Remember, for a point charge, only the difference in radius matters, so the equipotential contours are circles centered on the the charge creating the potential field, in this case,

Q

Voltage

Electric potential difference gets a very special name. We call it voltage, measured it in units of volts, in honor of Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the battery. The voltage between points

A

and

B

is,

{voltage}_{A B} = electric potential {difference}_{A B} = \frac{U_{B}}{q} - \frac{U_{A}}{q}

Absolute voltage

Up to now the equations have all been in terms of electric potential difference. We talk about the potential difference between here and there. Can we come up with a concept of an absolute potential difference (an absolute voltage)? Yes, we can, in a sense. An established convention is to define

voltage = 0

at a point infinity away. With this convention, a meaning of absolute voltage emerges by setting the starting location to

r_{A} = \infty

. Then the voltage at a location

r

away from a point charge is,

V_{r} = (\frac{Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{1}{r}) - {(\frac{Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{1}{\infty})}^{0}

The term with

1 / \infty

goes to zero. The absolute voltage at a location is then defined as the external work required to bring a unit test charge from infinity up to some location.

V_{r} = \frac{Q}{4 π ϵ_{0}} \frac{1}{r}

There isn't any magic here. It's just a turn of phrase. It means the same thing as saying the voltage at location

x

is the potential difference between

x

and infinity. This works because we share the assumption that the reference point for zero voltage is out at infinity.

The concept of absolute gravitational potential energy has the same requirement for a conventional reference point. We can only measure gravitational potential energy differences between two points. Usually, the reference point from which we measure (floor, table top, sea level, center of the Earth) is understood from the surrounding context. We assume cultural conventions for the reference point when asking questions like, "How tall are you?" "How high is that mountain?" "How much does the Earth's gravity pull on the Moon?"

As we learn about electrical potential, we use an analogy to gravity. Oddly (for me, anyway), when talking about gravitational potential, there isn't a word corresponding to "voltage". We just call it "gravitational potential", without honoring a scientist.

Wrap up

The terms we've been tossing around can sound alike, so it is easy for them to blur.

Electric potential energy is a property of a charged object, by virtue of its location in an electric field. Electric potential energy exists if there is a charged object at the location.
Electric potential difference, also known as voltage, is the external work needed to bring a charge from one location to another location in an electric field. Electric potential difference is the change of potential energy experienced by a test charge that has a value of $+ 1$ ‍.
Electric potential exists at one location as a property of space. A location has electric potential even if there is no charged particle there.
Absolute voltage at a location is something we can talk about as long as everyone agrees that zero volts is way out at infinity. The concept of absolute voltage is sort of a verbal sleight-of-hand. It is always safe to stick with the definition: voltage is a potential difference.

The concept of voltage was developed here using a fixed point charge

Q

as the source of electric field. We derived an exact expression for voltage in the space surrounding

Q

. The whole idea of electric potential and voltage is valid for any kind of charge arrangement. Of course, there is a different specific solution each time (the equation above for

U = …

changes, but everything after that using

U

is still correct). The power of the voltage concept is that it describes space with a scalar field. We don't have to keep track of vector directions. This significantly simplifies the math.

What is a volt ?

You may have noticed something missing so far. We have not provided any details on the unit of voltage: the volt. The volt is a so-called "SI derived unit". The article on Standard electrical units covers the definition of the volt in detail.

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yash.kick
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to yash.kick's post “I can't understand why we...”
I can't understand why we have a section of absolute voltage, I mean voltage itself means potential difference so then what do we mean by "absolute voltage" and "voltage"?
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(3 votes)
Answer
- Willy McAllister
  Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Willy McAllister's post “Go back to the equation f...”
  Go back to the equation for Electric Potential Energy Difference (AB) in the middle of the section on Electric Potential Energy. That equation tells you how electric potential energy changes when you move a test charge from point A to point B. For example, you could be moving your test charge towards or away from some charged object. To use this equation you have to put in two locations, A and B. There are just a few oddball situations that give us some trouble... What if I told you where B was but did not mention A? I might say it this way: "What is the potential energy of a test charge when you place it at B"? Well, you need an A to answer that question. If I don't give it to you, you have to make one up. A common choice that lots of engineers and scientists make is "A is infinity away from the charged object." When we make that choice, we say we are determining the absolute potential energy, or the absolute voltage. It's the same voltage as usual, but with the assumption that the starting point is infinity away. In almost all circuits, the second point is provided and this absolute idea isn't needed.
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yash.kick
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to yash.kick's post “Willy said-"Remember, for...”
Willy said-"Remember, for a point charge, only the difference in radius matters", WHY??
Button navigates to signup pageComment on yash.kick's post “Willy said-"Remember, for...”
(3 votes)
Answer
- kdavenport37
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to kdavenport37's post “You would have had to hav...”
  You would have had to have followed along the derivation to see that the component of length is cancelled out by a reciprocal in the integration. Check out Plane of Charge in this section called "Electrostatics."
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  (2 votes)
Bhagyashree U Rao
Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Bhagyashree U Rao's post “In the 'Doing work in an ...”
In the 'Doing work in an electric field section',
The equation we get for the small amt. of work done is
dW=−qE⋅dr
I get that F(ext.) is -ve since it acts opp. to the electrostatic force on q. But then why isn't 'dr' also -ve?

Also, for the movement of q for that small distance 'dr' is in the same direction as that of the F(ext.). So, shouldn't 'dW' be +ve?

Please do reply.
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(3 votes)
Answer
- Andrew M
  Posted 5 years ago. Direct link to Andrew M's post “Work is positive if the f...”
  Work is positive if the force is in the same direction as the displacement, negative if it's not.
  You have to pay attention to which force you are talking about: The force by the field or the force by an external force.
  It's really better not to try to handle this by manipulating a bunch of signs. Just calculate the amount of work that's done and then ask yourself if the force was pushing in the direction of the displacement or opposite to the displacement.
  Comment on Andrew M's post “Work is positive if the f...”
  (4 votes)
Abhinay Singh
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Abhinay Singh's post “Sir just for shake of awa...”
Sir just for shake of awareness Does moving charge also create Electric field ?
& Does static charge also create Magnetic field ?
Button navigates to signup pageComment on Abhinay Singh's post “Sir just for shake of awa...”
(3 votes)
Answer
- Willy McAllister
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Willy McAllister's post “Yes, a moving charge has ...”
  Yes, a moving charge has an electric field.
  No, a static charge does not create a magnetic field.
  
  A moving charge creates a magnetic field. You can see this if you pass a current through a wire (moving charge) and hold it near a compass. The compass will tip to the side.
  
  The science of moving charges is called electrodynamics or electromagnetism.
  Comment on Willy McAllister's post “Yes, a moving charge has ...”
  (4 votes)
skusecam9
Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to skusecam9's post “how much voltage is there...”
how much voltage is there in a electric fence.
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(2 votes)
Answer
- APDahlen
  Posted 8 years ago. Direct link to APDahlen's post “It depends on the fence.....”
  It depends on the fence...
  
  Agricultural fence chargers are designed to produce several thousand volts. It is important to note that the voltage is NOT continuous. Instead the voltage is pulsed for short amount of time. The result is akin to a static electric shock.
  
  Regrettably there are some fences in the world designed to deliver lethal shock. I'd rather not think about those...
  
  Regards,
  
  APD
  Button navigates to signup page
  (5 votes)
V
Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to V's post “I understand the term of ...”
I understand the term of electric potential difference between two particles , but how do we define the electric potential difference between two charged plates that are fixed ? Like I know the equation Delta V = Ed , but can someone explain it ? Thanks
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(3 votes)
Answer
- Louie Parker
  Posted 3 years ago. Direct link to Louie Parker's post “We can find the potential...”
  We can find the potential difference between 2 charged metal plates using the same formula V=Ed.
  
  Consider 2 infinite metal plates fixed with distance 'd' between them( this situation can be approximated in real life as the areal dimensions of metal plates are large compared to distance between them). To find the potential difference the plates find the net electric field between them and multiply it with distance between the plates.
  
  Electric field due to infinite charged metal plate using integration method:-
  https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/electric-charge-electric-force-and-voltage/electric-field/v/proof-advanced-field-from-infinite-plate-part-1
  
  https://www.khanacademy.org/science/physics/electric-charge-electric-force-and-voltage/electric-field/v/proof-advanced-field-from-infinite-plate-part-2
  
  Electric field due to infinite charged metal plate using Gauss law:-
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r-j0vE8rHYE
  
  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yOv4xxopQFQ
  Comment on Louie Parker's post “We can find the potential...”
  (3 votes)
Maiar
Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Maiar's post “So, basically we said tha...”
So, basically we said that Fex=-qE=Fe because the difference between them is negligible, but actually speaking, the external force is a little greater than the the electrostatic force ? Am I getting this right?
Got another question, what's exactly this "external force" that does work on the charge to move it, in case of charges moving in a circuit, what causes these charge to move from the source in the first place ?
Button navigates to signup pageButton navigates to signup page
(2 votes)
Answer
- Willy McAllister
  Posted 7 years ago. Direct link to Willy McAllister's post “If you want to actually m...”
  If you want to actually move a charge, you have to apply an ever-so-slightly greater force to the charge to get it to start moving. It is important not to push too long or too hard because we don't want the charged particle to accelerate. (If it accelerates then all sorts of new physics starts to happen involving magnetism, which at the moment is way over our heads.) For now we make our charges sit still (static) or we move them super slow where they move but they don't accelerate, a condition called "pseudo-static".
  
  In this general definition of of electric potential you can imagine any external force you want pushing the charge. If I do the experiment with a charged balloon, I can use my hand to push the charged object towards another. In a circuit, charges move because they are repelled from like charges and attracted to unlike charges. A chemical reaction near the negative terminal of a battery releases an excess number of electrons in the vicinity (in the attached wire). Electrons in the wire are repelled from this concentration and move away, towards the positive battery terminal. There is a different chemical reaction happening at the positive terminal that absorbs electrons, creating a deficit of electrons for a net positive charge in the region near that terminal. Nearby electrons are attracted and move toward the positive terminal.
  Comment on Willy McAllister's post “If you want to actually m...”
  (3 votes)
dena escot
Posted a year ago. Direct link to dena escot's post “Could I ask you some ques...”
Could I ask you some questions?
1) you said "Electric potential difference, also known as voltage, is the external work needed to bring a charge from one location to another location in an electric field." is this the definition of electric potential energy not electric potential difference?

2) is the electric potential energy directly proportional to electric field strength and the electric potential inversely proportional to electric field strength ? , and why?

3) why does we prove the electric potential energy for moving charge against the electric field?
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(2 votes)
Answer
- Willy McAllister
  Posted a year ago. Direct link to Willy McAllister's post “1) Electric potential ene...”
  1) Electric potential energy of a charged particle in an electric field depends on the strength of the field AND the magnitude of the test charge. (Same as how a book held up in a gravitational field has potential energy that depends on the gravitational constant AND the mass of the book.
  
  When we talk about "electric potential" (without the word energy at the end) we make an assumption that the test charge we've placed in the electric field has a value of 1 (1 coulomb). That slightly simplifies the force equation by essentially removing the test charge value from the equation. The electric field is the force on a test charge assuming the charge=1.
  
  When you eliminate (or "normalize") the value of the test charge it seems like the "potential" at a point in space becomes a property of space, and not a property of the test charge. This "field description" of what is happening in space will turn out to be very useful in future computations.
  
  2) Electric potential energy and electric potential scale together as you move the test particle around in an electric field.
  
  3) For simple electrostatic problems like a rod of charge or a sheet of charge you can use the regular Coulomb's Law to find answers. You don't need electric field theory. At a more advanced level where charges are allowed to move the electric field description becomes essential to predicting what happens (radio waves and light waves).
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HI
Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to HI's post “I know that electrical po...”
I know that electrical potential formula is V=kq/r. How is this related to columb's law?
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Answer
- Willy McAllister
  Posted 4 years ago. Direct link to Willy McAllister's post “Coulomb's Law is the firs...”
  Coulomb's Law is the first equation in this article. Your formula appears in the last one in this article, where k is 1/(4 pi e_o). The article shows you how the voltage equation is derived from Coulomb's Law.
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Abhinay Singh
Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Abhinay Singh's post “Electric potential differ...”
Electric potential difference, also known as voltage, is the external work needed to bring a charge from one location to another location in an electric field
Is the above statement ok? or Should it be 1C charge inplace of a charge ?
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(2 votes)
Answer
- Willy McAllister
  Posted 6 years ago. Direct link to Willy McAllister's post “Electric potential is the...”
  Electric potential is the work to bring a unit charge from one place to another in an electric field. If the charge you are moving around is not 1, then multiply the change of potential by the value of the charge to get work.
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Electrical engineering