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Potential Gradient

The potential gradient is defined as the rate of change of potential along lines of force and has units of volts per meter. The electric field intensity and potential gradient are point functions that are related to each other. Specifically, the electric field intensity is equal to the negative of the potential gradient, meaning the direction of the electric field is always in the direction of decreasing potential.

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Kathryn Sheppard
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389 views1 page

Potential Gradient

The potential gradient is defined as the rate of change of potential along lines of force and has units of volts per meter. The electric field intensity and potential gradient are point functions that are related to each other. Specifically, the electric field intensity is equal to the negative of the potential gradient, meaning the direction of the electric field is always in the direction of decreasing potential.

Uploaded by

Kathryn Sheppard
Copyright
© Attribution Non-Commercial (BY-NC)
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as DOC, PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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POTENTIAL GRADIENT: It is defined as the rate of change of potential along the lines of force.

M A dv dr N B

Let AB is a line of force .If dv is the potential difference between M and N separated by a distance dr then, POTENTIAL GRADIENT=dv/dr UNIT Volt/met DIMENSION =

[ (M L T /A T ) (1/L )]= [ M L A T ]
1 2 -2 1 1 1 1 1 -1 -3

RELATION BETWEEN POTENTIAL GRADIENT AND ELECTRIC FIELD INTENSITY: Electric field intensity E and potential gradient are point functions so they are related to each other. VA M N VB A dr B

Let VA and VB are the potentials at A and B. VA-VB=Change in potential If dv is the potential difference between two points M and N then, VA-VB= BA dv Let a charge q is moved from N to M VA-VB=WBA/q=BA WNM/q VA-VB= BA F .dr [1]

[dr is the displacement from N to M] [2]

= BA Fdr cos 180/q [Force against the field]=- BA(F/q)dr =- BAE.dr Comparing [1] & [2]; - B E.dr = B dv -E dr =dv E = -dv/dr The negative sign indicates that direction of E is always in the direction of decrease of potential.
A A

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