ELECTRIC POTENTIAL

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does electric potential mean? 

• ELECTRIC POTENTIAL (noun)
  The noun ELECTRIC POTENTIAL has 1 sense:

1. the difference in electrical charge between two points in a circuit expressed in volts

  Familiarity information: ELECTRIC POTENTIAL used as a noun is very rare.

 Dictionary entry details 

• ELECTRIC POTENTIAL (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

The difference in electrical charge between two points in a circuit expressed in volts

Classified under:

Nouns denoting natural phenomena

Synonyms:

electric potential; potential; potential difference; potential drop; voltage

Hypernyms ("electric potential" is a kind of...):

electrical phenomenon (a physical phenomenon involving electricity)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "electric potential"):

evoked potential (the electrical response of the central nervous system produced by an external stimulus)

resting potential (the potential difference between the two sides of the membrane of a nerve cell when the cell is not conducting an impulse)

 Context examples 

A SI derived unit of an electric potential and electromotive force equal to one thousandth of a volt.

(Millivolt, NCI Thesaurus)

Jupiter has the most powerful auroras in the solar system, so the team was not surprised that electric potentials play a role in their generation.

(Jupiter's Auroras Present a Powerful Mystery, NASA)

Having a surplus of electrons; having a lower electric potential.

(Negative Charge, NCI Thesaurus)

A SI unit of an electric potential and electromotive force equal to one millionth of a volt.

(Microvolt, NCI Thesaurus)

It is this brawny electric potential of many hundreds of Volts that could deflect and slow particles in the solar wind.

(NASA Research Gives New Insights into How the Moon Got 'Inked', NASA)

Existing methods tend to identify cell types using fluorescent or magnetic labels, which take time to attach, but this platform uses the phenomenon of dielectrophoresis: because different kinds of cells have different levels of receptivity to electrical fields, a trait called polarizability, when an electric potential gradient is activated around the chip, different cells are pulled in different directions at different speeds.

(Scientists say new medical diagnostic chip can sort cells anywhere with an inkjet, Wikinews)

Examining data collected by the ultraviolet spectrograph and energetic-particle detector instruments aboard the Jupiter-orbiting Juno spacecraft, a team led by Barry Mauk of the Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Laboratory, Laurel, Maryland, observed signatures of powerful electric potentials, aligned with Jupiter's magnetic field, that accelerate electrons toward the Jovian atmosphere at energies up to 400,000 electron volts.

(Jupiter's Auroras Present a Powerful Mystery, NASA)