Electrical Potential Energy and Electric Potential - Physics I | PHY 101, Study notes of Physics

Download Electrical Potential Energy and Electric Potential - Physics I | PHY 101 and more Study notes Physics in PDF only on Docsity! PHY 101 Lecture #8 Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential 1 PHY 101 Lecture #8: Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential Prof. Peter R. Saulson saulson@physics.syr.edu http://physics.syr.edu/courses/PHY101/ Office Hrs: Tues 10 –11:30, Physics 263-4, 3-5994 PHY 101 Lecture #8 Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential 2 Outline 1. Electric Potential Energy, UE 2. Electric Potential, or Voltage V PHY 101 Lecture #8 Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential 5 Electric Potential, or Voltage Often, it is handier to keep track of the electric potential energy per unit charge. This is sometimes called the electric potential, but to avoid confusion it is usually called the voltage. Voltage V is defined by . q UV E= PHY 101 Lecture #8 Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential 6 Voltage Another way of understanding the meaning of voltage: The voltage at some location is defined as the electric potential energy that would be stored in moving 1 C of charge from a reference point to that location. SI unit of voltage is the joule/coulomb, also known as the volt. PHY 101 Lecture #8 Electric Potential Energy and Electric Potential 7 Voltage difference is key Recall that gravitational potential energy is defined only when you define a reference point. Voltage is the same way. Pick a reference point (usually called ground), and then measure voltage differences with respect to it.