What is Potential: Definition and 1000 Discussions

Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from physics to the social sciences to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple release of energy by objects to the realization of abilities in people. The philosopher Aristotle incorporated this concept into his theory of potentiality and actuality, a pair of closely connected principles which he used to analyze motion, causality, ethics, and physiology in his aPhysics, Metaphysics, Nicomachean Ethics and De Anima, which is about the human psyche. That which is potential can theoretically be made actual by taking the right action; for example, a boulder on the edge of a cliff has potential to fall that could be actualized by pushing it over the edge. Several languages have a potential mood, a grammatical construction that indicates that something is potential. These include Finnish, Japanese, and Sanskrit.In physics, a potential may refer to the scalar potential or to the vector potential. In either case, it is a field defined in space, from which many important physical properties may be derived. Leading examples are the gravitational potential and the electric potential, from which the motion of gravitating or electrically charged bodies may be obtained. Specific forces have associated potentials, including the Coulomb potential, the van der Waals potential, the Lennard-Jones potential and the Yukawa potential. In electrochemistry there are Galvani potential, Volta potential, electrode potential, and standard electrode potential. In the
thermodynamics, the term potential often refers to thermodynamic potential.

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  1. F

    I Classical/empirical potential for electron-ion interactions

    LJ potential is an empirical potential function used between 2 neutral atoms. Is there any classical/empirical potential for electron-ion interactions as well? Different from Coulomb potential, this one if any should be able to capture the mechanism of a valence electron leaving an atom and of...
  2. V

    B Potential energy in standing wave compared to traveling wave

    From hyperphysics, "The unique point in the case of the traveling wave in the string is the element of the string that is at the maximum displacement as the wave passes. That element has a zero instantaneous velocity perpendicular to the straight string configuration, and as the wave goes "over...
  3. E

    Finding the potential difference between 2 points in a circuit

    is this method accepted? 2V is split equally between the 2 5kohms resistor because they are of equal resistance. 2V=5kohms 2kohms= 0.8V 3kohms=1.2V. p.d across P and Q= 1V-0.8V=0.2V
  4. D

    Potential outside a grounded conductor with point charge inside

    Potential inside is given as in ,https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Method_of_image_charges, which is the sum of excitation and induced potential. When the charge is outside it is easy to argue potential is zero in the sphere. But when we have charge inside and image outside, what is potential...
  5. F

    Kinetic and potential energy of a particle attracted by charged sphere

    Hello, I have a particle at point A with charge ##q_A##, and an unmovable sphere of radius ##R_B## at point B with a volumic charge density ##\rho##. The distance from particle A to the centre of the sphere in B is ##r##. Both objects have opposed charges, so, the particle in A, initially at...
  6. P

    Integrating from R to r: Potential Contribution & Reasoning

    The potential contribution from R > 0 is simple. My next step is to integrate from R to r. With regards to the integration from R to r, the 2nd method gives a potential contribution that is the negative of the 1st method. What is the reason?
  7. Dario56

    Definition of Absolute Electrode Potential

    Hey guys, I have two questions: 1) I thought absolute electrode potential is galvani potential difference at the interface. However, it is given by this equation in John Bockris - Modern Electrochemistry: $$ E(abs) = ^M\Delta^S\phi - \mu_e^M/F $$ First term is galvani potential difference on...
  8. Dario56

    Understanding the Role of a Voltmeter in Electrode Potential Measurement

    Voltmeter is an instrument which measures electric potential difference between two points. When measuring electrode potential of some redox system (vs SHE for example), it is said that voltmeter reading contains sum of all potential differences present in a cell. This includes all...
  9. S

    MHB Calculate the Length & Potential Energy of a Sliding Box on a Ramp

    A ramp rises 10cm for every 80cm along the sloping surface. A box of mass 50 kg slides down the ramp starting from rest at the top of the ramp. The coefficient of friction between the ramp and the box is 0.03 and no other resistance acts. The box is traveling at 2 m/s when it reaches the bottom...
  10. S

    MHB Decrease in Potential Energy of a Sliding Tile

    A tile of mass 1.2 kg slides 3m down a roof that makes an angle of 35 degree to the horizontal. Find the decrease in potential energy. Iam getting the ans 24.8J PE = mgh= 1.2× 12 sin 35 ×3 The ans in the textbook is 20.6J
  11. jaumzaum

    I What's the electric potential of the Earth?

    I was wondering, we constantly assume the reference of zero potential is the surface of the Earth. But if we consider the reference to be the infinity, what would be the electric potential of the Earth? As Faraday says, the Earth is charged with a -580 kC of negative charge. If we consider...
  12. oscarrod5

    Exploring Phase Potential Difference in 3-Phase Power

    I understand phase voltage (phase to neutral) well, but I'm still confused by what exactly the potential difference is between any 2 phases in 3 phase power. If you were to try to find the potential difference where 2 sine wave phases cross, then at that instantaneous point, the potential...
  13. Dario56

    I How is Potential Difference Created in Electrolytes?

    When we have a resistor in electronic conductors, potential difference is created via surface charges which accumulate on conductor surface. What about electrolytes? I am not sure if electrolytes can create potential difference in the same way since surface in electrolytic conductors isn't as...
  14. mcas

    Finding Energy in FCC Lattice Using Weak Potential Method

    I have a problem with finding the energy of an electron in an FCC lattice using the weak potential method. We did that for a one-dimensional lattice during class, and I know that there was a double degeneration at the boundaries of the first Brillouin Zone. However, I'm not sure what...
  15. B

    Gravitational Potential In the Field Caused by Two Masses

    I got (a) but have no idea about b. Potential fields aren't just additive all the time are they?
  16. itchybrain

    Question about potential energy: gravity and a vertical spring

    Let's say a mass is gently laid on top of a massless spring. The spring compresses. There is a change in the height of the mass. Therefore, there is a change in the gravitational potential energy: a decrease. The compressed spring now has potential energy (it has gained energy). The change...
  17. S

    How does gravity convert potential energy to kinetic?

    If I hold a ball above the ground, it has potential energy. Once gravity pulls on it, it becomes kinetic. What is gravity and how does it convert one kind of energy to another?
  18. yucheng

    Is the potential energy of an ion in a lattice ##U_0## or ##U_0/2##?

    Potential energy in a two-dimensional crystal Consider the potential energy of a given ion due to the full infinite plane. Call it##U_{0}##. If we sum over all ions (or a very large number##N##) to find the total##U##of these ions, we obtain##N U_{0}##. However, we have counted each pair twice...
  19. R

    Potential energy of a particle

    Knowing that ##F(x)=-\mathrm{d}V(x)/\mathrm{d}x##, I found that ##F(x)=-2.4x^3+1.35x^2+8x-3##. But it was the only thing I could find. How can I analyze what will be the type of movement with the information presented by the question statement?
  20. yucheng

    How does metal sphere determine the potential of the plane by symmetry?

    The answer given states that: The entire x-y plane is obviously at the same potential since all the fields are strictly perpendicular to it (draw a diagram if youre confused). Since we choose the sphere to be at potential zero, the point on the sphere which cuts the x-y plane is also at zero...
  21. R

    Calculating Potential Energy from Force for Non-Linear Systems

    If I have a force that behaves according to the formula ##F(x)=\alpha x-\beta x^3##, how can I get the potential energy from it? I know that: $$-\frac{\mathrm{d}V(x)}{\mathrm{d}x}=F(x),$$ but what about the limits of the integration?
  22. yucheng

    What's wrong? Electric potential of a point on a ring

    So I have a ring(red) of uniform charge ##\lambda## per unit length, and I want to calculate the electric potential at the origin (actually on any point of the ring). It is clear that the ring is given by the equation $$r=2 R \sin \theta$$, in polar coordinates, where R is the radius of the...
  23. L

    A State in the infinite potential well

    General state of the infinite potential well is that ##L^2[0,L]##, where ##L## is well width, or ##C^{\infty}_0(\mathbb{R})##?
  24. S

    Finding the potential function of a vector field

    Hello! So I need to find the potential function of this Vector field $$ \begin{matrix} 2xy -yz\\ x^2-xz\\ 2z-xy \end{matrix} $$ Now first I tried to check if rotation is not ,since that is mandatory for the potentialfunction to exist.For that I used the jacobi matrix,and it was not...
  25. patric44

    What is the number of confined states in these potential wells?

    hi guys i came across this question about the maximum and minimum number of bound states that can be confined in these potential wells 1- infinite potential well 2- semi infinite potential well (from one side) 3 - finite potential well i think i have a good idea about the minimum number of...
  26. Arman777

    A Obtaining the Orbit equation (Effective Potential) from the Newtonian metric

    We can write the Newtonian metric in the form of $$ds^2 = -(1 - 2M/r)dt^2 + (1+2M/r)[dr^2 + r^2d\Omega^2]$$ In order to obtain the orbit equation I have written the constant of motion, $$e = (1 - 2M/r)(\frac{dt}{d\tau})$$ and $$l = r^2sin^2(\theta)(\frac{d\phi}{d\tau})$$ I can divide the...
  27. Arman777

    A Solving Linearized EFE for Newtonian Potential Under Lorentz Gauge

    Under the Lorentz Gauge the Einstein Field Equations are given as $$G^{\alpha \beta} = -\frac{1}{2}\square \bar{h}^{\alpha \beta}$$ Then the linearized EFE becomes, $$\square \bar{h}^{\mu\nu} = -16 \pi T^{\mu\nu}$$ For the later parts, I ll share pictures from the book I have couple of...
  28. Vash25

    Gravitational potential energy question - normal force on us

    Hi, If we are standing on the ground, the Earth applies a force equal to our weight to us, but why do we feel a greater force when we fall to the ground from a certain height? Our weight is the same along this small height because our mass and acceleration are the same and, even so, the normal...
  29. joneall

    A Justification for phi^4 potential

    My understanding is at the level of Griffiths's Introduction to quantum mechanics or Robinson's Symmetry and the standard model, i.e., using the phi^4 potential to explain the effects of global and local symmetry breaking, Goldstone and Higgs bosons. These books and others use a potential of...
  30. E

    Potential difference calculation

  31. Vash25

    Gravitational potential energy question -- Ojbect sitting on the Earth

    Good day, If I consider my system to be an object and the earth, and the object is on the surface of the earth, then the system will have gravitational potential energy. Why couldn't I say that only the object (considering it as my system) has gravitational potential energy? Thanks
  32. J

    Monopole and Dipole Terms of Electric potential (V) on Half Disk

  33. JD_PM

    A Exploring Planck 2015 Results on Power Law Potential Models

    I am reading Planck 2015 results. In particular, I focused on "Power law potentials" subsection. The issues I have are 1. I do not understand why the validity of the model can be determined by the value of the ##B## mode. 2. Why the ##B## mode values ##\ln B = −11.6## and ##\ln B = −23.3## for...
  34. V

    Find electric field intensity/density with given potential difference

  35. akashpandey

    Why do we add Kinetic and Potential energy?

    As we know Energy is a scalar quantity. So when we add kinetic and potential energy to get Total energy. So addicting these two energy (kinetic and potential) comes under Scalar addition ? I just wanted to confirm it.
  36. sophiatev

    Electrostatic Potential Energy of a Sphere/Shell of Charge

    So it seems the typical way to approach this problem is to consider the sphere when it has charge q and radius r. With uniform charge density ##\rho##, this becomes ##q = 4/3 \pi r^3 \rho## and so ##dq = 4 \pi r^2 dr \rho##. Using our expression for the potential outside of the sphere, we find...
  37. eloiseh

    Find potential energy using time-independent Schrodinger's equation

    I had found what U(x) was equal to already by plugging in the wave function and simplifying, which is (2h^2/mL^4)(x^2 - 3L^2/2) by the way. But the solution key that I have goes an extra step. After stating the equation of U(x) that I got, it says that: "U(x) is a parabola centred at x = 0 with...
  38. E

    I Co-rotating electric potential for KN solution

    I am trying to work out the co-rotating electric potential ##\Phi = \xi^{\mu} A_{\mu}## for the KN solution. First it's necessary to prove that the hypersurfaces ##r = r_{\pm}## are Killing horizons ##\mathcal{N}_{\pm}## of a Killing field of the form ##\xi = k + \Omega_H m## for some Killing...
  39. Bob Enyart

    Is there any motion hidden within potential energy?

    Of potential and kinetic energy in their various forms, in their own reference frames, which involve motion? Heat, light, nuclear, kinetic, etc., seem to involve motion. Does potential energy, in any way whatsoever, involve motion? Thermal does. Does nuclear energy involve motion? Seems to...
  40. RodolfoM

    Electric potential inside a hollow sphere with non-uniform charge

    I tried to find the charge distribution using the given potential but couldn't produce the correct result. Also, Gauss's Law doesn't help, as the electric flux is 0 but we don't have any symmetry. Can someone please shine a light on this? Thanks in advance..
  41. S

    B Jupiter's pole storms - potential relation?

    I just watched this beautiful video about resonance frequencies and saw a pattern (the pattern at 1:25) , that reminded me of the pole storms on jupiter: Image Credit: NASA/JPL-Caltech/SwRI/ASI/INAF/JIRA Could it be that some resonance frequencies on the pole of Jupiter are the reason why...
  42. L

    A potential well with 3-fold reflection symmetry

    When we are talking about Bloch's theorem and also the tight-binding approximation, we can use them to help finding eigenstates of a system. However, I am so confused how to apply it in this case (below is my homework) and don't even know how to start it... All I understand about the Bloch's...
  43. Kaguro

    Chemical potential and fugacity

    I am trying to learn statistical physics. While learning MB statistics, my textbook defined chemical potential as ##\mu = (\frac{\partial F}{\partial N})_{V,T}##. That's nice. Later when I started on Quantum statistics, my textbook described all three distribution functions via: ##n_i =...
  44. L

    Delta potential problem - bound states problem

    I am confused here. For ##x>0## particle is free and for ##x<0## particle is free. That I am not sure how we can have bond states. If particle is in the area ##x>0## why it feel ##\delta## - potential at ##x=0##. Besides that, I know how to solve problem. But I am confused about this. If we...
  45. E

    A Gravitational Potential Energy & the Equivalence Principle

    First, in section 20.4, after listing all the things gravitational potential energy does not do, they say the equivalence principle forbids it being localized. I thought I understood the equivalence principle, but maybe I don’t. Any comments explaining that would be appreciated. Second, they...
  46. L

    I Double delta potential -- Degeneracy of bound states in one dimension?

    I have a question from the youtube lecture That part starts after 42 minutes and 47 seconds. Balakrishnan said that if delta barriers are very distant (largely separated) then we have degeneracy. I do not understand how this is possible when in 1d problems there is no degeneracy for bond states.
  47. J

    Potential Inside and Outside of a Charged Spherical Shell

    So here was my first go around at it: At first it made sense in my head but don't think my process is correct. Then i noticed the example in the book: I guess the reasoning isn't 100% there in my head and if i don't have an actual σ, how will i cancel out any legendre polynomials due to...
  48. L

    A Dimension of \lambda constant in \delta potential

    Time independent Schroedinger equation in ##\delta## potential ##V(x)=-\lambda \delta(x)##, where ##\lambda >0## is given by -\frac{\hbar^2}{2m}\frac{d^2}{d x^2}\psi(x)-\lambda \delta(x)\psi(x)=E\psi(x). How to find dimension of ##\lambda##? Dimension of ##V(x)## is [V(x)]=ML^2T^{-2}. Because...
  49. Clint0

    Potential energy increase of an expanding stellar object

    How much energy is required to double the radius of a uniformly dense stellar object? Express the answer in terms of mass and the radius of the object.
  50. appmathstudent

    Can Tidal Force Unlock Unlimited Energy Potential?

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