Definition:Potential
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Definition
Let $P$ be a point in a conservative field.
The potential at $P$ is the amount of work needed to move a unit of mass or electric charge from a given reference point to $P$.
The reference point is usually either Earth or a point at infinity, although any point can be used.
Gravitational Potential
The gravitational potential due to a physical body $B$ is the amount of potential energy of a particle $P$ of unit mass arising from the mass of $B$.
Electric Potential
An electric potential is the amount of work needed to move a unit of electric charge from a given reference point to a specific point in an electric field without producing an acceleration.
Also see
- Results about potentials can be found here.
Sources
- 1998: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (2nd ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): potential
- 2008: David Nelson: The Penguin Dictionary of Mathematics (4th ed.) ... (previous) ... (next): potential