Electric potential is a measure of the electric potential energy per unit charge at a given point in an electric field.

The electric potential is given by the equation:

• Definitions
  • is the electric potential, measured in Volts
  • is the electric potential energy, measured in Joules
  • is the charge, measured in Coulomb

Notice how this equation resembles electric potential energy this is because electric potential is a pre-calculation for the energy a particle would have if it was placed at a point.

This pre-calculation can be used as follows

Where is the electric potential energy, is the charge of the particle being placed in the electric field, and is the electric potential at that point.

Examples

A charge () Placed 15m Right of a charge ()

a. What is the Voltage at 15m Right of ?

b. What is the Electric Potential Energy of from ?

c. What Would the Electric Potential Energy of from if Had a charge of µ Instead