Voltage

To get our initial toehold on the concept of voltage, let's look at an analogy:

Voltage resembles gravity

For a mass mmm, a change of height hhh corresponds to a change in potential energy, \Delta U =
mg\Delta hΔU=mgΔhdelta, U, equals, m, g, delta, h.

For a charged particle qqq, a voltage VVV corresponds to a change in potential energy, \Delta U =
qVΔU=qVdelta, U, equals, q, V.

Voltage in an electric circuit is analogous to the product of g\cdot \Delta hg⋅Δhg, dot, delta, h. Where
ggg is the acceleration due to gravity and \Delta hΔhdelta, h is the change of height.

A ball at the top of the hill rolls down. When it is halfway down, it has given up half of its potential
energy.

An electron at the top of a voltage "hill" travels "downhill" through wires and elements of a circuit. It
gives up its potential energy, doing work along the way. When the electron is halfway down the hill, it
has given up, or "dropped", half of its potential energy.