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Voltage

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Voltage, electric potential difference,

electric pressure or electric tension is the
difference in electric potential between
two points. The difference in electric
potential between two points (i.e., voltage)
in a static electric field is defined as the
work needed per unit of charge to move a
test charge between the two points. In the
International System of Units, the derived
unit for voltage is named volt.[1] In SI units,
work per unit charge is expressed as
joules per coulomb, where 1 volt = 1 joule
(of work) per 1 coulomb (of charge). The
official SI definition for volt uses power
and current, where 1 volt = 1 watt (of
power) per 1 ampere (of current).[1] This
definition is equivalent to the more
commonly used 'joules per coulomb'.
Voltage or electric potential difference is
denoted symbolically by ∆V, but more
often simply as V, for instance in the
context of Ohm's or Kirchhoff's circuit
laws.
 Voltage

Batteries are sources of voltage in many

electric circuits.

Common symbols V , ∆V , U , ∆U

SI unit volt
Derivations from Voltage = Energy /
other quantities
charge
 2 3 1

Electric potential differences between

points can be caused by electric charge,
by electric current through a magnetic
field, by time-varying magnetic fields, or
some combination of these three.[2][3] A
voltmeter can be used to measure the
voltage (or potential difference) between
two points in a system; often a common
reference potential such as the ground of
the system is used as one of the points. A
voltage may represent either a source of
energy (electromotive force) or lost, used,
or stored energy (potential drop).

Definition
There are multiple useful ways to define
voltage, including the standard definition
mentioned at the start of this page. There
are also other useful definitions of work
per charge (see this section).

Roughly speaking, voltage is defined so

that negatively charged objects are pulled
towards higher voltages, while positively
charged objects are pulled towards lower
voltages. Therefore, the conventional
current in a wire or resistor always flows
from higher voltage to lower voltage.

Historically, voltage has been referred to

using terms like "tension" and "pressure".
Even today, the term "tension" is still used,
for example within the phrase "high
tension" (HT) which is commonly used in
thermionic valve (vacuum tube) based
electronics.
Definition as potential of electric …

field

The voltage increase from some point

to some point is given by
The electric field around the rod exerts a force on the
charged pith ball, in an electroscope

In this case, the voltage increase from

point A to point B is equal to the work
which would have to be done per unit
charge, against the electric field, to move
the charge from A to B without causing
any acceleration. Mathematically, this is
expressed as the line integral of the
electric field along that path. Under this
definition, the voltage difference between
two points is not uniquely defined when
there are time-varying magnetic fields
since the electric force is not a
conservative force in such cases.
In a static field, the work is independent of the path

If this definition of voltage is used, any

circuit where there are time-varying
magnetic fields,[note 1] such as circuits
containing inductors, will not have a well-
defined voltage between nodes in the
circuit. However, if magnetic fields are
suitably contained to each component,
then the electric field is conservative in the
region exterior[note 2] to the components,
and voltages are well-defined in that
region.[4] In this case, the voltage across
an inductor, viewed externally, turns out to
be

despite the fact that, internally, the electric

field in the coil is zero[4] (assuming it is a
perfect conductor).

Definition via decomposition of

electric field
…
Using the above definition, the electric
potential is not defined whenever
magnetic fields change with time. In
physics, it's sometimes useful to
generalize the electric potential by only
considering the conservative part of the
electric field. This is done by the following
decomposition used in electrodynamics:

where is the magnetic vector potential.

The above decomposition is justified by
Helmholtz's theorem.

In this case, the voltage increase from

to is given by
where is the rotational electric
field due to time-varying magnetic fields.
In this case, the voltage between points is
always uniquely defined.

Treatment in circuit theory …

In circuit analysis and electrical

engineering, the voltage across an
inductor is not considered to be zero or
undefined, as the standard definition
would suggest. This is because electrical
engineers use a lumped element model to
represent and analyze circuits.

When using a lumped element model, it is

assumed that there are no magnetic fields
in the region surrounding the circuit and
that the effects of these are contained in
'lumped elements', which are idealized and
self-contained circuit elements used to
model physical components.[5] If the
assumption of negligible leaked fields is
too inaccurate, their effects can be
modelled by parasitic components.
In the case of a physical inductor though,
the ideal lumped representation is often
accurate. This is because the leaked fields
of the inductor are generally negligible,
especially if the inductor is a toroid. If
leaked fields are negligible, we find that

is path-independent, and there is a well-

defined voltage across the inductor's
terminals.[4] This is the reason that
measurements with a voltmeter across an
inductor are often reasonably independent
of the placement of the test leads.

Volt
The volt (symbol: V) is the derived unit for
electric potential, electric potential
difference, and electromotive force. The
volt is named in honour of the Italian
physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827),
who invented the voltaic pile, possibly the
first chemical battery.
Hydraulic analogy
A simple analogy for an electric circuit is
water flowing in a closed circuit of
pipework, driven by a mechanical pump.
This can be called a "water circuit".
Potential difference between two points
corresponds to the pressure difference
between two points. If the pump creates a
pressure difference between two points,
then water flowing from one point to the
other will be able to do work, such as
driving a turbine. Similarly, work can be
done by an electric current driven by the
potential difference provided by a battery.
For example, the voltage provided by a
sufficiently-charged automobile battery
can "push" a large current through the
windings of an automobile's starter motor.
If the pump isn't working, it produces no
pressure difference, and the turbine will
not rotate. Likewise, if the automobile's
battery is very weak or "dead" (or "flat"),
then it will not turn the starter motor.
The hydraulic analogy is a useful way of
understanding many electrical concepts.
In such a system, the work done to move
water is equal to the pressure multiplied by
the volume of water moved. Similarly, in an
electrical circuit, the work done to move
electrons or other charge-carriers is equal
to "electrical pressure" multiplied by the
quantity of electrical charges moved. In
relation to "flow", the larger the "pressure
difference" between two points (potential
difference or water pressure difference),
the greater the flow between them
(electric current or water flow). (See
"electric power".)

Applications

Working on high voltage power lines

Specifying a voltage measurement
requires explicit or implicit specification of
the points across which the voltage is
measured. When using a voltmeter to
measure potential difference, one
electrical lead of the voltmeter must be
connected to the first point, one to the
second point.

A common use of the term "voltage" is in

describing the voltage dropped across an
electrical device (such as a resistor). The
voltage drop across the device can be
understood as the difference between
measurements at each terminal of the
device with respect to a common
reference point (or ground). The voltage
drop is the difference between the two
readings. Two points in an electric circuit
that are connected by an ideal conductor
without resistance and not within a
changing magnetic field have a voltage of
zero. Any two points with the same
potential may be connected by a
conductor and no current will flow
between them.
Addition of voltages …

The voltage between A and C is the sum of

the voltage between A and B and the
voltage between B and C. The various
voltages in a circuit can be computed
using Kirchhoff's circuit laws.

When talking about alternating current

(AC) there is a difference between
instantaneous voltage and average
voltage. Instantaneous voltages can be
added for direct current (DC) and AC, but
average voltages can be meaningfully
added only when they apply to signals that
all have the same frequency and phase.

Measuring instruments

Multimeter set to measure voltage

Instruments for measuring voltages
include the voltmeter, the potentiometer,
and the oscilloscope. Analog voltmeters,
such as moving-coil instruments, work by
measuring the current through a fixed
resistor, which, according to Ohm's Law, is
proportional to the voltage across the
resistor. The potentiometer works by
balancing the unknown voltage against a
known voltage in a bridge circuit. The
cathode-ray oscilloscope works by
amplifying the voltage and using it to
deflect an electron beam from a straight
path, so that the deflection of the beam is
proportional to the voltage.

Typical voltages
A common voltage for flashlight batteries
is 1.5 volts (DC). A common voltage for
automobile batteries is 12 volts (DC).

Common voltages supplied by power

companies to consumers are 110 to 120
volts (AC) and 220 to 240 volts (AC). The
voltage in electric power transmission
lines used to distribute electricity from
power stations can be several hundred
times greater than consumer voltages,
typically 110 to 1200 kV (AC).

The voltage used in overhead lines to

power railway locomotives is between
12 kV and 50 kV (AC) or between 1.5 kV
and 3 kV (DC).

Galvani potential vs.

electrochemical potential
Inside a conductive material, the energy of
an electron is affected not only by the
average electric potential, but also by the
specific thermal and atomic environment
that it is in. When a voltmeter is connected
between two different types of metal, it
measures not the electrostatic potential
difference, but instead something else that
is affected by thermodynamics.[6] The
quantity measured by a voltmeter is the
negative of the difference of the
electrochemical potential of electrons
(Fermi level) divided by the electron
charge and commonly referred to as the
voltage difference, while the pure
unadjusted electrostatic potential (not
measurable with a voltmeter) is
sometimes called Galvani potential. The
terms "voltage" and "electric potential" are
ambiguous in that, in practice, they can
refer to either of these in different
contexts.

History
The term electromotive force was first
used by Volta in a letter to Giovanni Aldini
in 1798, and first appeared in a published
paper in 1801 in Annales de chimie et de
physique.[7]:408 Volta meant by this a force
that was not an electrostatic force,
specifically, an electrochemical force.[7]:405
The term was taken up by Michael Faraday
in connection with electromagnetic
induction in the 1820s. However, a clear
definition of voltage and method of
measuring it had not been developed at
this time.[8]:554 Volta distinguished
electromotive force (emf) from tension
(potential difference): the observed
potential difference at the terminals of an
electrochemical cell when it was open
circuit must exactly balance the emf of the
cell so that no current flowed.[7]:405

See also
Alternating current (AC)
Direct current (DC)
Electric potential
Electric shock
Electrical measurements
Electrochemical potential
Fermi level
High voltage
Mains electricity (an article about
domestic power supply voltages)
Mains electricity by country (list of
countries with mains voltage and
frequency)
Ohm's law
Ohm
Open-circuit voltage
Phantom voltage
References
1. International Bureau of Weights and
Measures (2006), The International
System of Units (SI) (PDF) (8th ed.),
ISBN 92-822-2213-6, archived (PDF)
from the original on 2017-08-14, p. 144
2. Demetrius T. Paris and F. Kenneth
Hurd, Basic Electromagnetic Theory,
McGraw-Hill, New York 1969, ISBN 0-
07-048470-8, pp. 512, 546
3. P. Hammond, Electromagnetism for
Engineers, p. 135, Pergamon Press
 1969 OCLC 854336 .
4. R. Feynman; et al. "The Feynman
Lectures on Physics Vol. II Ch. 22: AC
Circuits" . Caltech. Retrieved
4 December 2018.
5. A. Agarwal & J. Lang (2007). "Course
materials for 6.002 Circuits and
Electronics" (PDF). MIT
OpenCourseWare. Retrieved
4 December 2018.
6. Bagotskii, Vladimir Sergeevich (2006).
Fundamentals of electrochemistry .
 p. 22. ISBN 978-0-471-70058-6.
7. Robert N. Varney, Leon H. Fisher,
"Electromotive force: Volta's forgotten
concept" , American Journal of
Physics, vol. 48, iss. 5, pp. 405–408,
May 1980.
8. C. J. Brockman, "The origin of voltaic
electricity: The contact vs. chemical
theory before the concept of E. M. F.
was developed" , Journal of Chemical
Education, vol. 5, no. 5, pp. 549–555,
May 1928
Footnotes
1. If there are time-varying electric fields
or accelerating charges, then there will
be time-varying magnetic fields. This
means in AC circuits, there are always
some non-confined magnetic fields.
However, except at higher frequencies,
these are neglected.
2. This relies on the fact that each
component has a finite volume. If a
component had an infinite extent, the
region exterior to the components
 would not be simply connected, and
thus integrals through it would still
depend on the path taken.

External links

Look up voltage in Wiktionary, the free

dictionary.

Electrical voltage V, current I, resistivity

R, impedance Z, wattage P
Elementary explanation of voltage at
NDT Resource Center
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Last edited 15 days ago by Spinningspark

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