Verification of electric potential

[ehabmozart]

Electric Potential at a point is defined as the "work done by the electric field on a charged particle as that particle moves in from infinity to point f"... My question now, is where does this electric field point. Consider a positive charge and we want to get the sign of V nearby. I know before evaluating that it should be positive. This can be verified by the equation of V=kq/r and since q is positive, V is positive. But how can I verify this using the definition. Where is the electric field and what is the unit charge??

 

[mfb]

The definition of the direction of an electric field is arbitrary - it was defined to point away from positive charges, and this is reflected in the formula for the potential.

Can you ask your question in just one thread, please? This gets messy, with very similar question spread over several threads.

 

[sophiecentaur]

The definition of the direction of an electric field is arbitrary - it was defined to point away from positive charges, and this is reflected in the formula for the potential.

Can you ask your question in just one thread, please? This gets messy, with very similar question spread over several threads.

I agree. Asking the same question on different threads won't help you get the answer I think you want any more than using just one thread. As I have said elsewhere, go back to be basics and don't try to argue with the definition. There is quite enough information in the threads you have already started. It's up to you to seive it out. Just believe it's not a matter of 'opinion'. It just involves applying the basic definition in every case and you can't go wrong.