PH 102 Lecture Notes - Lecture 4: Electric Potential Energy, Electric Potential, Electric Field
Document Summary
A charge in an electrical field experiences a force given by f = qe. If the charge moves, then the field does work if the field has a component parallel to the displacement. If e is uniform and has a component in the direction of the displacement, then the work done is xfw x qe x x cos x qe xfw. If e makes an angle with respect to the displacement, then this can be written as. The electrical force is conservative, so we can associate a potential energy with this force. If the work done by e is positive, then the potential energy decreases; if it is negative, then the potential energy increases. According to the work-energy theorem, w = ke. This means that the total energy (kinetic plus potential) is constant. A proton is released from rest between oppositely charged parallel plates where the electric field strength is e = 500 n/c.
