Insights Blog
-- Browse All Articles --
Physics Articles
Physics Tutorials
Physics Guides
Physics FAQ
Math Articles
Math Tutorials
Math Guides
Math FAQ
Education Articles
Education Guides
Bio/Chem Articles
Technology Guides
Computer Science Tutorials
Forums
Trending
Featured Threads
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Menu
Log in
Register
Navigation
More options
Contact us
Close Menu
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Forums
Physics
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Confusion about electric potential
Reply to thread
Message
[QUOTE="lychette, post: 5488844, member: 580388"] You should not be too concerned just yet about lack of calculus knowledge. The Physics ideas are straightforward. You realize that point charges produce FORCES that are proportional to 1/r[SUP]2[/SUP] (inverse square law). POTENTIAL (energy) is a measure of work done and is therefore indicated by the area under F ~ distance graph. It is not difficult to verify that the area under 1/r[SUP]2[/SUP] graphs is proportional to 1/r. This can be done manually by 'counting squares' under the 1/r[SUP]2[/SUP] graph. This is also known as integration (dreaded calculus) and for common functions such as 1/r[SUP]2[/SUP] standard formulae are well known. Understanding calculus is undoubtedly a great 'tool' in the understanding of physical principles but the principles are not calculus ! Another majot aspect to be aware of is that the zero of POTENTIAL energy is taken to be at infinity (true also in gravitational fields) and this means that in some cases (such as gravitation) increasing POTENTIAL can give a max value of zero. In this case POTENTIAL must be a negative quantity [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Post reply
Forums
Physics
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Confusion about electric potential
Back
Top