- #1
AxiomOfChoice
- 533
- 1
Why does "grounded" imply "V = 0"?
My *physical* understanding of the term "grounded" is this: A grounded conductor has access to an infinite supply of electrons.
Apparently, however, if a conductor (a sphere, a plate, etc.) is grounded, it's automatically at potential V = 0. Why is this? I thought the potential could be whatever we want it to be for any charge configuration, so I'm sure V = 0 is just a convenient choice for a grounded conductor. Still, I'm not sure why this is. Can someone help?
For the record, I know the potential inside a conductor is constant, so it makes sense that if V = 0 at one point in a conductor, it must be 0 everywhere else in the conductor.
My *physical* understanding of the term "grounded" is this: A grounded conductor has access to an infinite supply of electrons.
Apparently, however, if a conductor (a sphere, a plate, etc.) is grounded, it's automatically at potential V = 0. Why is this? I thought the potential could be whatever we want it to be for any charge configuration, so I'm sure V = 0 is just a convenient choice for a grounded conductor. Still, I'm not sure why this is. Can someone help?
For the record, I know the potential inside a conductor is constant, so it makes sense that if V = 0 at one point in a conductor, it must be 0 everywhere else in the conductor.