Chapter 18
Electric Potential and Electric Field
By Boundless
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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 results from forces between charges; potential difference is the energy needed to move a charge from point A to B.
Electric field is the gradient of potential, which depends inversely upon distance of a given point of interest from a charge.
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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An electric field that is uniform is one that reaches the unattainable consistency of being constant throughout.
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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 is a unit of energy useful in the physics of elementary charges and electricity.
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The electric dipole moment is a measure of polarity in a system.
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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 potentials are commonly found in the body, across cell membranes and in the firing of neurons.
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Equipotential lines depict one-dimensional regions in which the electric potential created by one or more nearby charges is constant.
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Capacitance is the measure of an object's ability to store electric charge.
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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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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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Like any other form of electrical circuitry device, capacitors can be used in series and/or in parallel within circuits.
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Dielectric breakdown is the phenomenon in which a dielectric loses its ability to insulate, and instead becomes a conductor.