Physics › Section N · Electric potential and capacitance › Topic N.1
Electric potential energy and potential difference
Every battery, socket and power line is labelled in volts. Voltage turns out to be energy per unit of charge, and that one idea lets you track electrical energy the same way you tracked gravitational energy in mechanics.
In this topic
- Charges on an electrical hill
- Electric potential energy
- Potential: energy per unit charge
- Potential difference, or voltage
- Voltage is not energy
- Worked example: phone and tablet batteries
- Signs and the direction of motion
- The electron-volt
- Energy conservation for a moving charge
- Worked example: accelerating a proton
- Common mistakes to avoid
- Key takeaways
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