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derek181
- 57
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I am having some troubles wrapping my head around the electric potential concept. From what I gather it is a separation of charge? Is this true? On a more formal level electric potential energy is the amount of energy in joules it takes to move a charge against an electric field or the amount of energy in joules released in the form of kinetic energy when in the same direction as an electric field. Then the electric potential is found by dividing by the charge. So we are essentially saying it takes a certain amount of energy per unit charge to move a charge in an electric field. Then electric potential difference is the difference between the joules per coulomb to some arbitrary reference point or any other point with an electric potential.
Could someone please clarify these concepts. Why do we define potential as joules per coulomb, what's the point?
Could someone please clarify these concepts. Why do we define potential as joules per coulomb, what's the point?