CONTENT OVERVIEW

GENERAL PHYSICS 2

ELECTRIC
POTENTIAL
Lesson 2
LET’S RECALL:

Charge
Law of Charges
Coulombs Law
Electric Field
Magnetic Flux
LET’S CONNECT:

Electric Force and Gravitational Force

Electric Potential Energy: Potential Difference
POTENTIAL ENERGY IS CONVERTED TO KINETIC ENERGY
PE is used to denote electric potential energy
Unit is Joules (J)

 Work done to accelerate a positive charge

from rest is positive and it results from a loss
in PE or a negative PE. “ Change in PE, ”
 Electric Potential, V
The potential energy needed per unit charge

PE is proportion to q, the dependence on q cancels. Thus, V does not depend on q.

 The unit is
The change in potential energy ∆𝑃𝐸 is crucial, so we are concerned with the difference in
potential or potential difference ∆V between two points: ∆V=
The potential difference between point a and b, , is defined as the change in PE of a charge q
moved from a to b, divided by the charge. Units of potential difference are Joules per Coulomb,
given the name volt(V) after Alessandro Volta.
One volt is the potential difference between two points in an electric field if one joule of work is
done to moving one coulomb of charge from one point to the other.
 Voltage
Voltage is the common name for potential difference

Whenever a voltage is quoted , it is understood to be

the potential difference between two points.
In summary, the relationship between potential
difference( voltage) and electrical potential
energy is given by:
In summary, the relationship between potential
difference( voltage) and electrical potential
energy is given by:
Example no. 1
A point charge moves from point A to B. The magnitude of the
electric field is . Point A to B are 80 cm and 20 cm above the
negatively charged plate respectively.
a. Calculate the electric potential energy at points A and B.
b. How much work is done to move the charge from point A
to B?
c. What is the electric potential at points A to B?
Example no. 2
If a charge of a magnitude is being held in a
place from a charge of which is also being
held in a place, what is the electric potential
energy of the system?
Example no. 3
A + charged is located at a point where the
electric potential is +300V? What is the
electric potential energy of this particle?
What is the electric PE of a - located at an
electric potential of +500V?