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184_notes:relating_ev [2018/05/24 14:08] – created dmcpadden | 184_notes:relating_ev [2020/08/17 16:37] (current) – dmcpadden | ||
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- | ===== Relating Electric Potential to Electric Field ===== | + | / |
- | At this point you may have noticed some similarities between electric field and electric potential. | + | [[184_notes: |
+ | |||
+ | ===== Relating Electric Potential to Electric Field ===== | ||
+ | At this point you may have noticed some similarities between | ||
* They use the same constant | * They use the same constant | ||
* They both relate to the amount of charge you have | * They both relate to the amount of charge you have | ||
* They both get smaller when you increase the distance from the charge | * They both get smaller when you increase the distance from the charge | ||
* Neither describes an interaction (both are only based on a single charge) | * Neither describes an interaction (both are only based on a single charge) | ||
- | However, there are differences between these quantities. | + | However, there are differences between these quantities: |
* Electric field is a vector and electric potential is a scalar | * Electric field is a vector and electric potential is a scalar | ||
* Electric field relates to force and electric potential relates to energy | * Electric field relates to force and electric potential relates to energy | ||
* Electric field depends on 1r2 and electric potential depends on 1r | * Electric field depends on 1r2 and electric potential depends on 1r | ||
- | So while these are two distinct quantities, it makes sense for them to be related somehow. | + | So while these are two distinct quantities, it makes sense for them to be related somehow. This page of notes goes into more detail about how you can get the electric field from electric potential and vice versa. |
{{youtube> | {{youtube> | ||
- | === Getting Electric Field from Electric Potential === | + | ==== Getting Electric Field from Electric Potential |
- | When you look at the equations side-by-side, | + | When you look at the equations side-by-side, |
V=14πϵ0qr →E=14πϵ0qr2ˆr | V=14πϵ0qr →E=14πϵ0qr2ˆr | ||
- | If we know what the electric potential in terms of r, you can calculate the electric field by taking the negative derivative of potential with respect to r, which will give you the electric field in the ˆr direction. //__This assumes that your electric potential equation does not depend on an angle__//. (If your electric potential does depend on an angle, then you have to use the [[https:// | + | If you know what the electric potential |
→E=−dVdrˆr | →E=−dVdrˆr | ||
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→E=−dVdxˆx−dVdyˆy−dVdzˆz=−⟨dVdx,dVdy,dVdz⟩ | →E=−dVdxˆx−dVdyˆy−dVdzˆz=−⟨dVdx,dVdy,dVdz⟩ | ||
- | === Getting Electric Potential from Electric Field === | + | ==== Getting Electric Potential from Electric Field ==== |
If instead you start with the electric field and want to get the electric potential, we do the inverse operation: take the negative integral over a path. By integrating over a path (which has direction), we can use a [[184_notes: | If instead you start with the electric field and want to get the electric potential, we do the inverse operation: take the negative integral over a path. By integrating over a path (which has direction), we can use a [[184_notes: | ||
V=−∫→E∙d→r+C | V=−∫→E∙d→r+C | ||
or if you take a definite integral, than you are really finding a change in voltage from some initial location to some final location: | or if you take a definite integral, than you are really finding a change in voltage from some initial location to some final location: | ||
ΔV=Vf−Vi=−∫rfri→E∙d→r | ΔV=Vf−Vi=−∫rfri→E∙d→r | ||
- | This relationship between field and potential is very similar to the relationship between [[183_notes: | + | This relationship between field and potential is very similar to the relationship between [[183_notes: |
- | [{{ 184_notes: | + | [{{ 184_notes: |