Now before you roll your eyes, let me explain that this is how we specify the electric potential energy. We want it to be based only on location, so it’s defined this way:
[am4show have=’p9;p58;’ guest_error=’Guest error message’ user_error=’User error message’ ]
Electric Potential (V) = Potential Energy (PE) / charge (q)
The electric potential energy of a charged particle depends on two things: the electric charge, and where it is in the electric field (how close to the source is it?). A larger charge on the particle means there’s more repulsive force that shows up when you move it against the nature of the electric field, which means more work is involved to move that charge. If you plunked down two objects, one with twice the charge of the other, into an electric field, the one with twice the charge experiences twice the force (and also have twice the potential energy). It has a higher electric potential when it’s held close to a source of the same charge, and a lower potential when it’s moved further away.
Click here to go to your next lesson on making a magnesium battery!
[/am4show]