Definition as potential of electric field[edit]

The voltage increase from some point   to some point   is given by

The electric field around the rod exerts a force on the charged pith ball, in an electroscope

In this case, the voltage increase from point A to point B is equal to the work done per unit
charge, against the electric field, to move the charge from A to B without causing any
acceleration. Mathematically, this is expressed as the line integral of the electric field along
that path. Under this definition, the voltage difference between two points is not uniquely
defined when there are time-varying magnetic fields since the electric force is not
a conservative force in such cases.

In a static field, the work is independent of the path

If this definition of voltage is used, any circuit where there are time-varying magnetic fields, [note
1]
 such as circuits containing inductors, will not have a well-defined voltage between nodes in
the circuit. However, if magnetic fields are suitably contained to each component, then the
electric field is conservative in the region exterior [note 2] to the components, and voltages are
well-defined in that region.[6] In this case, the voltage across an inductor, viewed externally,
turns out to be

despite the fact that, internally, the electric field in the coil is zero [6] (assuming it is a perfect
conductor).
Definition via decomposition of electric field[edit]
Using the above definition, the electric potential is not defined whenever magnetic fields
change with time. In physics, it's sometimes useful to generalize the electric potential by only
considering the conservative part of the electric field. This is done by the following
decomposition used in electrodynamics:

where   is the magnetic vector potential. The above decomposition is justified

by Helmholtz's theorem.

In this case, the voltage increase from   to   is given by

where   is the rotational electric field due to time-varying magnetic fields. In this
case, the voltage between points is always uniquely defined.