Electric field and electric potential

AI Thread Summary
Electric field is a vector quantity, while electric potential is a scalar quantity, and both can be described within the context of open subsets of R^3. The electric field is derived from the gradient of the electric potential, highlighting their interconnectedness. The discussion emphasizes the need for clarity when addressing the differences in their mathematical representations. The conversation briefly veers off-topic with a personal remark unrelated to the main discussion. Understanding the relationship between these two concepts is crucial in physics.
wasi-uz-zaman
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hi, electric filed is a vector and electric potential is scalar. Gradient of electric potential give us electric filed - please explain by which space we can describe both quantities.
thanks
 
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They are different ways of describing the same thing - what do you mean by "explain by which space we can describe both quantities"?
 
i mean electric field needs vector space -so what do we do for electric potential as it is scalar.
 
Both their domains are open subsets of ##\mathbb{R}^{3}##; only their codomains differ.
 
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Can you rephrase your question in a more careful way?
 
Jorriss said:
Can you rephrase your question in a more careful way?
Nothing to do with physics but...
That photograph is not you, is it ?!
 
It may be shown from the equations of electromagnetism, by James Clerk Maxwell in the 1860’s, that the speed of light in the vacuum of free space is related to electric permittivity (ϵ) and magnetic permeability (μ) by the equation: c=1/√( μ ϵ ) . This value is a constant for the vacuum of free space and is independent of the motion of the observer. It was this fact, in part, that led Albert Einstein to Special Relativity.
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