Electric Potential Difference
Electric potential difference is also known as voltage. The electric potential difference is the work done per unit charge to move a unit charge from one point to another in an electric field. Electric potential difference is usually referred to as a Voltage difference. Imagine a ball sitting at some height, will there be some energy in the ball? Yes, the energy is called Potential energy, and if the ball is dropped from a point A to B height, the ball will always fall from higher gravitational potential to lower, then there will be a difference in both energies. The electrical potential difference is analogical to this concept. The energy possessed by Electric charges is known as electrical energy. A charge with higher potential will have more potential energy, and a charge with lesser potential will have less potential energy. The current always moves from higher potential to lower potential. The difference in these energies per unit charge is known as the electric potential difference. In order to create electricity and the flow of current, a potential difference is always required, which is maintained by a battery or a cell.
The longer side represents the Higher potential (+ve terminal), and the shorter side represents the Lower potential (-ve terminal). The Electric potential difference is measured by a Voltmeter which is applied parallel to the Instrument whose Voltage is to be measured.
Electric Potential Difference Formula
Vxy= Vx – Vy = [Wx – Wy]/q
SI Unit of Electrical Potential Difference
The SI Unit of Electrical potential difference is the same as the electric potential, i.e, Voltage or Volts.
Note: Why a unit charge is taken to explain the concept of Electric Potential?
A small unit charge will have very small electric field which will neither affect not distort the field produced by the bigger charge and hence, the concept can be explained easily.
Difference Between Electric Potential and Potential Difference
The flow of electric charges is known as electricity, and it is responsible for producing electric current. An important word associated with electricity is electric potential. A potential difference is required to create the flow of electrons and hence, produce electricity. Before understanding the difference between electric potential and potential difference, let’s first understand the electric potential and potential difference in detail.