NEET UG » NEET UG Study Material » Physics » Electric Potential Energy

Electric Potential Energy

Electric potential energy is similar to potential energy but with charges instead of masses. It is a type of energy that a charge has due to its position relative to the other charges.

Introduction

When an object possesses electric potential energy, it is due to the combination of two factors: the charge possessed by the object itself and the relative position of the object with respect to other electrically charged objects. The magnitude of the electric potential is proportional to the amount of work required to move the object from one point to another while resisting the presence of the electric field.

A small amount of energy is gained when a moving object is moved against an electric field. This amount of energy is referred to as electric potential energy. The electric potential for any charge can be calculated by dividing the potential energy by the quantity of charge.

Electrical Potential definition

Electric potential – It is defined as the amount of work energy required to move a unit of electric charge from a reference point to a specific point in an electric field. More precisely, it is the energy per unit charge for a test charge, which is so small that the disturbance of the field considered is negligible.

Electric potential relies on electric potential energy to help define the amount of energy stored in electric fields. This is another concept that helps us model the behaviour of electric fields. Electric potential is not the same as electric potential energy! The electric potential field is the amount of electric potential energy divided by the amount of charge at that point. This takes the amount of charge out of the equation and gives us an idea of ​​how much potential energy specific areas of the electric field can provide. 

Electric potential is expressed in units of joules per coulomb (J/C), which we define as volts (V). In every electric field, there are two points of electric potential that are of great interest to us. There is a point of high potential, where a positive charge would have the highest possible potential energy, and there is a point of low potential, where a charge would have the lowest possible potential energy.

Electric Potential Formula

The formula for electric potential is given by,

V=k(q/r)

Where V = Electric potential, K = Constant, q = Charge, r = distance between two charge

Electric Potential Difference

The electric potential difference is defined as the amount of work done to move a unit charge from one point to another in an electric field. In other words, the electric potential difference is defined as the difference in electric potential of the two charged bodies. When one body is charged to a different electric potential than the other charged body, it is said that there is a potential difference between the two bodies.

What is Electrical Potential energy?

Electrical potential energy is a type of energy that a charge has due to its position relative to the other charges. 

If you lift a ball of mass m to any height, you are giving the ball gravitational potential energy, and there are two reasons for that: first, you have to expend energy in your muscles to do it, and second, when you let go of the ball, it falls to the ground and that energy is released again. 

Electrical potential energy is similar to potential energy but with charges instead of masses. Despite lifting up the ball in the gravitational field of the earth, you move a charge that is in the electric field of another charge. By separating two charges by a radius r, you give the charges electric potential energy relative to each other. When you release these charges, they will either attract or repel each other, releasing that energy. Opposite charges attract each other, just like the earth and the ball. Like charges repel each other.

Formula

The formula for electric potential energy is the product of the charge on a particle times the electric potential. 

Potential energy = (Particle’s charge) (Electric potential)

U = q × V

U = qV

Where, U = the potential energy of the object in Joule (J), q = the charge of the point particle in Coulomb (C), V = Electrical potential in units of volts equal to joule per coulomb (V = J/ c)

Conclusion

There is a slight difference between electric potential energy and potential energy because in potential energy it’s about mass whereas in electric potential energy the scenario is different. here it is all about charge. Here we talk about the separation distance between charges and value of charges whereas in potential energy we talk about the mass. However in this article of electric potential the concepts such as what is potential difference, what is equipotential, what is equipotential energy is discussed in a very easy way. So that, you will get the important details related to this topic. Hope this article is useful for this article is useful for you.