Electric Potential

General Physics 2
STE 2206

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 𝑊𝑎 → 𝑏 = −∆𝑈𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣

𝐾𝐸𝑎 + 𝑈𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣, 𝑎 = 𝐾𝐸𝑏 + 𝑈𝑔𝑟𝑎𝑣, 𝑏

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Electric Potential Energy
 It is an energy associated with the configuration of charge
within a system

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Electric Potential Energy

𝑈𝑒 = 𝐹𝑒 𝑦

𝑈𝑒 = 𝑞0 𝐸𝑦
where: 𝑞0 is the test charge
𝐸 is the electric field
𝑦 is the height

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 𝑊𝑎 → 𝑏 = −∆𝑈𝑒

= − 𝑈𝑒,𝑏 − 𝑈𝑒,𝑎

= 𝑈𝑒,𝑎 - 𝑈𝑒,𝑏

= 𝑞0 𝐸 𝑦𝑎 - 𝑞0 𝐸 𝑦𝑏

𝑊𝑎 → 𝑏 = 𝑞0 𝐸 𝑦𝑎 − 𝑦𝑏

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 𝑊𝑎 → 𝑏 = 𝑞0 𝐸 𝑦𝑎 − 𝑦𝑏

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Ex.: 𝑦𝑎 = 10 𝑚
𝑊𝑎 → 𝑏 = ?
𝑦𝑏 = 5 𝑚
𝑣𝑏 = ?
2
𝑁
𝐸 = 7 𝑥 10
𝐶
𝑞0 = 1.6 𝑥 10−19 𝐶

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What if we have two charges????

𝑞0

1 𝑞𝑞0
𝑈𝑒 =
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟

𝑞
What if we have a discrete distribution of charges????
𝑈𝑒 = 𝑈𝑒,1 + 𝑈𝑒,2 + 𝑈𝑒,3 + ⋯ + 𝑈𝑒,𝑛
𝑞0
1 𝑞0 𝑞1 1 𝑞0 𝑞2 1 𝑞0 𝑞3 1 𝑞0 𝑞𝑛
= + + + ⋯+
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟1 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟2 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟3 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟𝑛

𝑞0 𝑞1 𝑞2 𝑞3 𝑞𝑛
= + + + ⋯+
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟1 𝑟2 𝑟3 𝑟𝑛
𝑛
𝑞 𝑞0 𝑞𝑖
𝑈𝑒 = ෍
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟𝑖
𝑖=1
What if we have a continuous distribution of charges????

𝑞0

𝑛
𝑞0 𝑞𝑖 lim 𝑞 → ∞ 𝑞0 𝑑𝑞
𝑈𝑒 = ෍ 𝑈𝑒 = න
4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟𝑖 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟
𝑖=1

𝑞
Ex. 2:

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Ex. 1:

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SW. 1:

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Electric Potential
 It is an electric potential energy per unit charge.

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Electric Potential

𝑈𝑒
𝑉=
𝑞0

𝐽
S.I. unit is Volt, 𝑉 =
𝐶

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 𝑊𝑎 →𝑏 −∆𝑈𝑒 − 𝑈𝑒,𝑏 − 𝑈𝑒,𝑎
𝑞0
= =
𝑞0 𝑞0
𝑈𝑒,𝑎 − 𝑈𝑒,𝑏
=
𝑞0

𝑈𝑒,𝑎 𝑈𝑒,𝑏
= -
𝑞0 𝑞0

= 𝑉𝑎 − 𝑉𝑏
𝑊𝑎 →𝑏
𝑞0 = 𝑉𝑎𝑏
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The battery gives 1.5 J
of work done to move
a 1 C of charge from
point a to point b.

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Electric Potential for a Discrete Distribution of Charges
𝑈𝑒
𝑉=
𝑞0 𝑞0
1 1 𝑞𝑞0
=
𝑞0 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟

1 𝑞
𝑉= (one electric charge)
𝑞 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟
Electric Potential for a Discrete Distribution of Charges
𝑈𝑒
𝑉=
𝑞0 𝑞0
𝑛
1 𝑞0 𝑞𝑖
= ෍
𝑞0 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟𝑖
𝑖=1
𝑛
1 𝑞𝑖
𝑉= ෍ (finite number of
𝑞 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑖=1 𝑟𝑖 electric charges)
Ex. 1:

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Ex. 2:

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Ex. 3:

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SW. 2:

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Electric Potential for a Continuous Distribution of Charges
𝑈𝑒
𝑉=
𝑞0 𝑞0
1 𝑞0 𝑑𝑞
= න
𝑞0 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟

1 𝑑𝑞
𝑉= න (Infinite number of
𝑞 4𝜋𝜖0 𝑟 electric charges)
Ex. 1:

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Ex. 2:

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SW. 3: Find the electric potential for a charged disk with
radius, R.

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References
 Young and Freedman, Sears and Zemansky’s
University Physics with Modern Physics, 13th ed.
 Serway and Jewett, Physics for Scientists and
Engineers with Modern Physics, 9th ed.
 Giancolli, Douglas C., Physics for Scientists and
Engineers with Modern Physics, 4th ed.
 Pearson and Trishna, Supercourse in Physics,
Volume 5.

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