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The work of forces generated by a potential function is known as potential energy and the forces are said to be conservative. Therefore, work on an object that is merely displaced in a conservative force field , without change in velocity or rotation, is equal to minus the change of potential energy E p of the object, W = − Δ E p ...
There are various types of potential energy, each associated with a particular type of force. For example, the work of an elastic force is called elastic potential energy; work of the gravitational force is called gravitational potential energy; work of the Coulomb force is called electric potential energy; work of the strong nuclear force or weak nuclear force acting on the baryon charge is ...
The work per unit of charge is defined by moving a negligible test charge between two points, and is expressed as the difference in electric potential at those points. The work can be done, for example, by electrochemical devices ( electrochemical cells ) or different metals junctions [ clarification needed ] generating an electromotive force .
The potential energy of an object can be defined as the object's ability to do work and is increased as the object is moved in the opposite direction of the direction of the force. [ nb 1 ] [ 1 ] If F represents the conservative force and x the position, the potential energy of the force between the two positions x 1 and x 2 is defined as the ...
The potential used depends on the constraints of the system, such as constant temperature or pressure. For example, the Helmholtz and Gibbs energies are the energies available in a system to do useful work when the temperature and volume or the pressure and temperature are fixed, respectively.
In mathematics and mathematical physics, potential theory is the study of harmonic functions.. The term "potential theory" was coined in 19th-century physics when it was realized that two fundamental forces of nature known at the time, namely gravity and the electrostatic force, could be modeled using functions called the gravitational potential and electrostatic potential, both of which ...
A thermodynamic potential (or more accurately, a thermodynamic potential energy) [1] [2] is a scalar quantity used to represent the thermodynamic state of a system.Just as in mechanics, where potential energy is defined as capacity to do work, similarly different potentials have different meanings.
That which is potential can theoretically be made actual by taking the right action; for example, a boulder on the edge of a cliff has potential to fall that could be actualized by pushing it over the edge. In physics, a potential may refer to the scalar potential or to the vector potential. In either case, it is a field defined in space, from ...