Lesson 3

Electric Potential and Potential Energy

Q3 General Physics 2

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Outline of Discussion
• Electric Potential Energy
• Electric Potential
• Electric Potential and Work

Do you now what this meme is about?

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Electric Potential Energy

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Electric Potential Energy

Electric potential energy is a potential energy
that results from conservative Coulomb forces
and is associated with the configuration of a
particular set of point charges within a defined
system.
For a uniform electric field:
𝑈 = 𝑞𝑜 𝐸𝑦
For electric field due to two point charges
𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑈=𝑘
𝑟

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Electric Potential Energy in Uniform Electric Fields

𝑈 increases if the test charge moves in the direction opposite of the
electric force.

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Electric Potential Energy in Uniform Electric Fields

𝑈 decreases if the charge moves in the same direction as the
electric force.

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Electric Potential Energy for Two Point Charges

For like charges, 𝑈 is positive. As 𝑟 decreases, 𝑈 approaches +∞. For
unlike charges, 𝑈 is negative. As 𝑟 decreases, 𝑈 approaches −∞.
For electric field due to
two point charges

𝑞1 𝑞2 1 𝑞1 𝑞2
𝑈=𝑘 =
𝑟 4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟
DO NOT CONFUSE ELECTRIC
POTENTIAL ENERGY WITH COULOMB’S
LAW. 𝑈 is proportional to 1/𝑟 while 𝐹
is proportional to 1/𝑟 2 .

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Example 1
A positron (the electron’s antiparticle) has mass (𝑚𝑝 ) 9.11 × 10−31 kg and charge (𝑞𝑝 ) 𝑞𝑜 =
+ 1.6 × 10−19 C. Suppose a positron moves in the vicinity of an α (alpha) particle, which has charge
(𝑞𝛼 ) 𝑞 = 3.20 × 10−19 C and mass (𝑚𝛼 ) 6.64 × 10−27 kg. The α particle’s mass is more than 7000
times that of the positron, so we assume that the alpha particle remains at rest. When the positron
is 1.00 × 10−10 m from the alpha particle, it is moving directly away from the alpha particle at
3.00 × 106 m/s.

(a) What is the positron’s speed when the particles are 2.00 × 10−10 m apart?
(b) What is the positron’s speed when it is very far from the alpha particle?
(c) Suppose the initial conditions are the same but the moving particle is an electron (with the same
mass as the positron but charge 𝑞𝑜 = −1.60 × 10−19 C). Describe the subsequent motion

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Example 1 (cont.)
(a) What is the positron’s speed when the particles are 2.00 × 10−10 𝑚 apart?
SOLUTION: To solve this, we need to first choose 3 points of the particle’s motion where we can apply the conservation of
energy. Let point a be the point where the particles are 1.00 × 10−10 m apart and point b be the point where the particles
are 2.00 × 10−10 m apart.
𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 1 2
𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼
𝑈𝑎 + 𝐾𝑎 = 𝑈𝑏 + 𝐾𝑏 → 𝐾𝑏 = 𝑈𝑎 + 𝐾𝑎 − 𝑈𝑏 = 𝑘 + 𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑎 − 𝑘
𝑟𝑎 2 𝑟𝑏
1 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 1 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼
𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑏2 = 𝑘 + 𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑎2 − 𝑘 → 𝑣𝑏2 = 2𝑘 + 𝑣𝑎2 − 2𝑘
2 𝑟𝑎 2 𝑟𝑏 𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑎 𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑏

𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼
𝑣𝑏 = 2𝑘 + 𝑣𝑎2 − 2𝑘
𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑎 𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑏

1.60 × 10−19 3.20 × 10−19 1.60 × 10−19 3.20 × 10−19

𝑣𝑏 = 2 9.00 × 109 −31 −10
+ 3.00 × 106 2 − 2 9.00 × 109
9.11 × 10 1.00 × 10 9.11 × 10−31 2.00 × 10−10
𝒎
𝒗𝒃 = 𝟑. 𝟖 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔
𝒔

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Example 1 (cont.)
(b) What is the positron’s speed when it is very far from the alpha particle?
SOLUTION: To solve this, we need to first choose 3 points of the particle’s motion where we can apply the conservation of
energy. Let point c be a point that is very far from the alpha particle that the potential energy is zero.
𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 1 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼
𝑈𝑎 + 𝐾𝑎 = 𝑈𝑏 + 𝐾𝑏 → 𝐾𝑏 = 𝑈𝑎 + 𝐾𝑎 − 𝑈𝑏 = 𝑘 + 𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑎2 − 𝑘
𝑟𝑎 2 𝑟𝑏

1 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 1 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼
𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑐2 = 𝑘 + 𝑚𝑝 𝑣𝑎2 − 𝑘 → 𝑣𝑐2 = 2𝑘 + 𝑣𝑎2 − 2𝑘
2 𝑟𝑎 2 𝑟𝑐 𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑎 𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑐

𝑞𝑝 𝑞𝛼 1.60 × 10−19 3.20 × 10−19

𝑣𝑐 = 2𝑘 + 𝑣𝑎2 = 2 9.00 × 109 −31 −10
+ 3.00 × 106 2
𝑚𝑝 𝑟𝑎 9.11 × 10 1.00 × 10

𝒎
𝒗𝒄 = 𝟒. 𝟒 × 𝟏𝟎𝟔
𝒔

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Electric Potential

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Electric Potential, 𝑉
Electric potential is the potential
energy per unit charge. It is expressed
𝐽
in SI units of Volts (1 = 1 𝑉)
𝐶

𝑈 1 𝑞 (Point Charges)
𝑉= =
𝑞𝑜 4𝜋𝜖𝑜 𝑟

𝑈
𝑉= = 𝐸𝑦 (Uniform Field) 𝑈 – Potential Energy
𝑞𝑜
𝑞𝑜 - Test Charge
𝑟 – distance between 𝑞 and 𝑞𝑜

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Electric Potential, 𝑉
The nature of electric potential (for point charges) depends on the
type of the source charge.

Note: In the atomic scale, we can express energy in terms of electron volt (eV). DO NOT confuse this with the
volt (V) which is the SI unit for electric potential and potential difference.

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Electric Potential Difference, Δ𝑉 or 𝑉𝑎𝑏

Electric potential difference, also known as voltage, is the external
work needed to bring a charge from one location to another location
in an electric field.
For point charges
𝑈𝑎 − 𝑈𝑏 𝑊
𝑉𝑎 − 𝑉𝑏 = =
𝑞𝑜 𝑞𝑜
For uniform electric fields
𝑉𝑎 − 𝑉𝑏 = 𝐸 𝑟𝑎 − 𝑟𝑏
𝑉𝑎 − 𝑉𝑏 - Potential Difference (potential at 𝑎
with respect to 𝑏)
𝑈𝑎 and 𝑈𝑏 - Potential energy at 𝑎 and 𝑏
𝑟𝑎 and 𝑟𝑏 - initial and final positions

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Electric Potential and Work

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Electric Potential and Work

The work done on the charge by the electric field is equal to the
reduction in electrical potential energy.

Δ𝑈 = −𝑊𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 = − 𝐹𝑒𝑙𝑒𝑐 𝑑 = −(𝑞𝐸𝑑)

𝑞Δ𝑉 = − 𝑞𝐸𝑑

Δ𝑉 = −𝐸𝑑

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Example 2
What is the electric potential
difference between point A and point
B as shown in the figure?
SOLUTION: The electric potential difference is

𝑉
Δ𝑉 = −𝐸𝑑 = 5 0.05 𝑚
𝑚

𝚫𝑽 = −𝟎. 𝟐𝟓 𝑽

*Note that the negative sign indicates that a positive

charge would have lower electric potential energy at
point B than point A.

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Problem Solving 1: Electric Dipole

An electric dipole consists of point charges 𝑞1 = +12 nC and 𝑞2 = −12 nC placed 10.0 cm apart.
Compute the electric potentials at points 𝑎, 𝑏, and 𝑐.

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Problem Solving 2
A proton (charge +𝑒 = 1.602 × 10−19 C) moves a distance 𝑑 = 0.50 m in a straight line between
points 𝑎 and 𝑏 in a linear accelerator. The electric field is uniform along this line, with magnitude
𝑉 𝑁
𝐸 = 1.5 × 107 = 1.5 × 107 in the direction from 𝑎 to 𝑏. Determine (a) the force on the
𝑚 𝐶
proton, (b) the work done on it by the field, and (c) the potential difference 𝑉𝑎 − 𝑉𝑏 .

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References
Franklin, K., Yates, P., Wilcocks, L., Scott, T., & Muir, P. (2011).
Introduction to biological physics for the Health and Life Sciences. Wiley.
Young, H. D., Freedman, R. A., Ford, L. A., Sears, F. W., & Young, H. D.
(2020). University Physics with Modern Physics (15th ed.). Pearson Higher
Education.

END OF DISCUSSION

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