|
Electric Potential and Charge Flow:
Electric potential is a location dependent quantity that describes the amount of electric potential energy per charge possessed by a charged object at a given location. In order for charge to flow from one location to another location, there must be a difference in electric potential between the two locations. If there is a difference in electric potential between the two locations, then charge will spontaneously move from the location of high potential to low potential.
|
|
Charge will not flow through a circuit unless there is a difference in electric potential between two ends of the external circuit. The positive and the negative terminal of the circuit must have a difference in electric potential between them. This difference is established by a battery that does work upon a charge to move it from low energy to high energy. For instance, a 9-Volt battery would contribute 9 Joules of energy per 1 Coulomb of charge to move it from a low electric potential to a high electric potential. The 9 Volt battery produces 9 Volts of electric potential difference between the two ends of the circuit. When at the high energy terminal, a charge could be said to be at high electric pressure. Like water pressure in a water circuit, a charge at high electric pressure will be induced to move to points of low pressure. In this sense, voltage is synonymous to electric potential difference or electric pressure.
|