Electric Potential Energy

When an electric field accelerates a free positive charge q, it is given kinetic energy. The process is analogous to an object accelerated by a gravitational field as if the charge were going down an electrical hill where its electric potential energy is converted into kinetic energy. Of course, the sources of the forces are very different. The work done on a charge q by the electric field in this process helps to develop a definition of electric potential energy. The electrostatic or Coulomb...

Source: Yong P. Chen, PhD, Department of Physics & Astronomy, College of Science, Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN Electric potential, also known as "voltage", measures the electric potential energy per unit charge. Electric field is a scalar quantity and is fundamental to many electrical effects. Like potential energy, what is physically meaningful is the difference in the electric potential. For example, the spatial variation in the electric potential is related to the electric...

The electric potential energy of a test charge in a uniform eclectic field can be generalized to any electric field produced by static charge distribution. Consider a positive test charge in an electric field produced by another static positive charge. If the test charge is moved away from the static charge, then the electric field does the positive work on the test charge, and the electric potential energy of the test charge decreases as it moves away from the static charge. Here the electric...

When an electric field accelerates a free positive charge, it acquires kinetic energy. This process is analogous to an object being accelerated by a gravitational field as if the charge were going down an electrical hill where its electric potential energy is converted into kinetic energy, although, of course, the sources of the forces are very different. The electrostatic or Coulomb force acting on the positive test charge is conservative, which means that the work done on a test charge is...

Thermodynamics of a Redox Reaction Thermodynamics is the branch of physics dealing with the relationship between heat and other forms of energy. In an electrochemical cell, chemical energy is converted into electrical energy. Thus, a link can be predicted between cell potential, free energy change, and the equilibrium constant for the reaction. Cell potential can also be measured as the oxidant or the reducing strength, and similar acid-base strength measures are reflected in equilibrium...