Is Voltage a measurement of pressure?

Join the discussion
Registration is free. Start your own thread to ask a follow-up.
33 replies · 8K views
robphy said:
Of course, this isn't to say that these are completely analogous...
but from this limited energy [work-done] point of view, they [in particular, voltage and pressure] are analogous.
frankin garcia said:
That is exactly the answer i was looking for, thanks, now i just got to do more research to validate all this and more. 👍
But do note that as robphy says, they are not completely analogous. As with all analogies, there’s only so far that this one can go. You can use it as long as it helps you form an intuitive mental picture of what’s going on, but any time that it’s not helping you understand you should give it up.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: frankin garcia
Physics news on Phys.org
Nugatory said:
as long as it helps you form an intuitive mental picture of what’s going on
I think there's an enormous problem with initial teaching using the water model. That is the pipes and the wires can erroneously be taken as equivalent components but, at the same time, the pressure drop along pipes of different bores is taken as a dominant image. That is a seriously confusing issue for students who will never have experience of water flow. I can't think of a single experimental experience that kids get of water flow (after nursery school, that is).

There are two strands to the contributions to this thread - from informed people who can find positive correlation at a technical level and from people who try to envisage teaching very uninformed students. The 'intellectual' links across Science are valid but the 'intuitive' links are much more tenuous. For teaching, one has to think concrete.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: frankin garcia
On that note, how would you explain when i change the amount of voltage in my welder, let's say for sake of scenario, the voltage goes up and the plasma flame, i'll notice, has more force, power, Newtons per area it seems. Which from what i know, that action is also called pressure. If i bring the volts down, clearly the opposite occurs with the flame completely ran on electricity and argon/helium. Maybe I am not interpreting force, Newtons and power correctly.
 
frankin garcia said:
the voltage goes up and the plasma flame, i'll notice, has more force,
More current will produce more heat which causes more volume of evolved gases. The actual pressure increase will be infinitesimal as the gases expand in all directions against only atmospheric pressure to restrict it. That's what you notice; more flame.
 
  • Like
Likes   Reactions: frankin garcia