Electric Potential: 0 Between 2 Point Charges of +q?

AI Thread Summary
The discussion centers on the electric potential created by two point charges, each with charge +q. It clarifies that the electric potential does not equal zero at any point between the charges, including the midpoint. Instead, while the electric field is zero at the midpoint due to the equal and opposite forces from the charges, the electric potential remains positive. The potential is defined as the energy required to move a charge from infinity to that point, and since both charges contribute positively to the potential, it cannot vanish between them. The conclusion emphasizes that the potential can only be zero at infinity, not at any finite point between the charges.
daveed
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if you had two point charges of charge +q each, where would the electric potential vanishes, other than at infinite?

the thing i am reading says "nowhere", though i am wondering, why can there not be 0 electric potential exactly halfway between the charges?
 
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Reilly Atkinson
 
Nowhere. The potential is not the field, so midway between the charges the potential is not zero but its derivative and therefore the electric field, is zero. The potential is a measure of how much energy you need, to get from infinity to that point.
 

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