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Chapter 18

Electric Potential and Electric Field

Book Version 3
By Boundless
Boundless Physics
Physics
by Boundless
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Section 1
Overview
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Relation Between Electric Potential and Field

Electric potential and field are related in that potential is a property of the field that describes the field's action.

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Electric Potential Energy and Potential Difference

Electric potential energy results from forces between charges; potential difference is the energy needed to move a charge from point A to B.

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Electric Field and Changing Electric Potential

Electric field is the gradient of potential, which depends inversely upon distance of a given point of interest from a charge.

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Potentials and Charged Conductors

Electric potential within a charged conductor is equal to zero, but can be calculated as a nonzero value outside of a charged conductor.

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Uniform Electric Field

An electric field that is uniform is one that reaches the unattainable consistency of being constant throughout.

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Energy Conservation

Energy is conserved in the movement of a charged particle through an electric field, as it is in every other physical situation.

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The Electron-Volt

The electron volt is a unit of energy useful in the physics of elementary charges and electricity.

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Dipole Moments

The electric dipole moment is a measure of polarity in a system.

Section 2
Equipotential Surfaces and Lines
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Ideal Conductors

An ideal conductor exists only in the world of theory; it has "ideal" properties that make calculations easy to perform.

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Electric Potential in Human

Electric potentials are commonly found in the body, across cell membranes and in the firing of neurons.

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Equipotential Lines

Equipotential lines depict one-dimensional regions in which the electric potential created by one or more nearby charges is constant.

Section 3
Point Charge
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Electric Potential Due to a Point Charge

The electric potential of a point charge Q is given by $V=\frac{kQ}{r}$.

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Superposition of Electric Potential

To find the total electric potential due to a system of point charges, one adds the individual voltages as numbers.

Section 4
Capacitors and Dielectrics
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Capacitance

Capacitance is the measure of an object's ability to store electric charge.

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Capacitors with Dielectrics

A dielectric partially opposes a capacitor's electric field but can increase capacitance and prevent the capacitor's plates from touching.

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Parallel-Plate Capacitor

The parallel-plate capacitor is one that includes two conductor plates, each connected to wires, separated from one another by a thin space.

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Combinations of Capacitors: Series and Parallel

Like any other form of electrical circuitry device, capacitors can be used in series and/or in parallel within circuits.

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Dieletrics and their Breakdown

Dielectric breakdown is the phenomenon in which a dielectric loses its ability to insulate, and instead becomes a conductor.

Section 5
Applications
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Cathode Ray Tube, TV and Computer Monitors, and the Oscilloscope

A cathode ray tube consists of a vacuum tube that contains one or more electron guns used to excite phosphors on a screen to produce images.

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Boundless Physics by Boundless
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Chapter 17
Electric Charge and Field
  • Overview
  • Shelding and Charging Through Induction
  • Coulomb's Law
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  • Electric Flux and Gauss's Law
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Chapter 18
Electric Potential and Electric Field
  • Overview
  • Equipotential Surfaces and Lines
  • Point Charge
  • Capacitors and Dielectrics
  • Applications
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Electric Current and Resistance
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