Name: Manicao, Aegee Cedrick F.

Subject: Electricity and Magnetism

Course & Year: BSED SCI 2A Instructor: Sir Rudolfo Banqiued

ACTIVITY # 2

Instruction: Differentiate Electric Potential, Electric Potential Energy and Potential

different. To be submitted on April 11, 2023 in hard copy.

 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL

Electric Potential, or voltage, is basically the difference in potential energy per unit
charge between two locations in an electric field. When we are talking about electric
field, we will choose a location and then questioned what the electric force would
possibly do to an imaginary positively charged particle if we put one there. To determine
the electrical potential at a chosen area, we find how much the electrical potential
energy of an imaginary positively charged particle would change if we moved it there.
Just like when we talked about electric field, we don’t actually have to place a positively
charged particle at our chosen spot to know how much electrical potential energy it
would have.

 ELECTRIC POTENTIAL ENERGY

Electric potential energy is the energy that is needed to move a charge against an
electric field. This means you will need more energy to move a charge further in the
electric field, but also more energy to move it through a stronger electric field. Just
Imagine that you have a huge negatively charged plate, with a little positively charged
particle stuck to it through the electric force. There’s an electric field around the plate
that’s pulling all positively charged objects toward it (while pushing other negatively
charged objects away).

 POTENTIAL DIFFERENCE

Potential difference can be simply defined as the difference of electrical potential

between two points. When two positive charges when brought close to each other, they
repel. When two negative charges are brought close to each other, they also repel. But
when a positive and a negative charge are brought close together, they attract each
other. When these two opposite charges are combined, they can be used to work. This
is why we need a positive (+) and a negative (–) to light a bulb or run any electrical tool,
equipment, mobile phone or home appliance. This ability of charged particles to do work
is called an electric potential.

The difference between electric potential and potential difference is that electric

potential is the amount of effort done in transporting a unit positive charge from infinity
to that point against electric forces in an electric field. On the other hand, a potential
difference is the amount of work done in transporting a unit positive charge from one
location to another point against the electric force between two points in an electric field.