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What is electric potential?
No charge can exist individually, and hence every conductor or material experiences a system of charges. Electric charge and its associated concepts are always viewed in a set of charges. Thus, electric energy or electric potential energy is defined as the work done by a charge to change its position in the electric field. It depends on the initial and final position of the charge and is highly independent of the path taken by the system of charges. It is easy to calculate this energy in the system of charges. Let there be a system of two point charges p and q, where p moves in the electric field produced by q. Here q is the fixed point, and it is displaced, such that r1 is the distance between p and the common point s while r2 is the distance between q and the common point s. Thus, dW= F.dr where dr is the small displacement of the force and dW is the work done. The work done in moving the charge q from its position to s equals the change in the potential energy required to move q from its position to s. Hence, W= U (r1) – U(r2) Here,- U (r1) is the potential energy of the charge q when it is at a fixed point; and
- U (r2) is the potential energy of the charge q when it reaches position s.
