Electric Potential

Electric Potential Energy

is the energy that is needed to move a charge against an electric field. You need more energy to move a charge further in the electric field, but also more energy to move it through a stronger electric field.

Electric Potential

is defined as the amount of electric potential energy per unit charge. In other terms, it is the amount of work needed for a charge to be moved from one reference point to another.

  Mathematically, electric potential is computed using the equation:

Equipotential Surfaces and Lines

The potential for a point charge is the same anywhere on the imaginary sphere of radius r surrounding the charge.

equipotential surfaces

The figure shows an isolated positive point charge and its electric field lines, which radiate out from a positive charge and terminate on negative charges. The red arrows represent the magnitude and direction of the electric field and the black lines represent the places where the electric potential is constant.


These areas are called equipotential lines or