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What does electrical potential mean?
Electric potential is like electric potential energy, except electric potential energy requires that you have at least two charged particles: one charged particle (can be considered to be stationary) to produce the electric field and another charged particle to be affected by that electric field. If both charged particles are positively charged, then when you move the nonstationary charged particle closer to the stationary charged particle, potential energy of the system increases, because the charged particles naturally want to repel. However, let's say you remove that nonstationary charged particle and are left with just the single charged particle. There is no more potential energy in the system, because there is no other charged particle to be acted upon by the electric field. However, the single charged particle still emits an electric field. This field is what creates "electric potential." Even though there is no second particle in the system, if you were to place a second particle into the system (let's call it a test particle), its potential energy would be equal to the electric potential multiplied by the charge of the test particle. U = kq1q2/r (electric potential energy with 2 charges, where the 0 of potential energy is infinitely far away) V = kq1/r (electric potential requiring only 1 charge) V = U/q2 (electric potential is potential energy without the second charge) U = Vq2 (electric potential energy is electric potential multiplied by second charge) There is also a concept called gravitational potential, where it's gravitational potential energy divided by the test mass. It can be a negatively charged particle. In that case, electric potential decreases as you get closer to the negatively charged particle. Even though electric potential decreases, if you have two negatively charged particles, electric potential energy increases as you move the 2nd negative charge closer to the first charge. This is because multiplying 2 negative charges makes a positive: U = k(-q1)*(-q2)/r = kq1q2/r (assuming q1 and q2 are the charge magnitudes) So in this case, it's a little weird because that's how the math works. Nature has a tendency to reduce potential energy, but potential is different and doesn't work the same way. However if the test charge was positive, the sign of electric potential energy will be the same as electric potential with respect to location. V = k(-q1)/r = -kq1/r U = k(-q1)(q2)/r = -kq1q2/r Potential energy is not the same as potential! They are related, but don't get them confused. Energy is measured in Joules. Potential is measured in Volts. Completely different units. Volts = Number of Joules / Number of Coulombs. Electric Potential = Electric Potential Energy / Charge of Test Particle
What creates a voltage?
the amount of stuff in it makes it do stuff like voltage. ANSWER: In the sky particles motion creates a potential magnetics and motion will do the same thing. Separation of electric charges (eg by a moving magnetic field as in a dynamo). The more you separate them the higher the voltage. There are chemical ways of doing it, as in a battery.
What is the main difference between an electric motor and electric generator?
An electric generator converts mechanical energy to electric energy while a motor converts electric energy to mechanical. A generator can actually act as a motor if it losses whatever is making it spin (called "motoring"), which is usually a very bad thing. Motors may be used as generators as well, depending on their design.
What is the difference between transformer choke and ballast?
A transformer is a device that transfers electrical energy from one circuit to another through inductively coupled wires. A changing current in the first circuit (the primary) creates a changing magnetic field; in turn, this magnetic field induces a changing voltage in the second circuit (the secondary). By adding a load to the secondary circuit, one can make current flow in the transformer, thus transferring energy from one circuit to the other. A choke is an inductor designed to have a high reactance to a particular frequency when used in a signal-carrying circuit. An electrical ballast (sometimes called control gear) is a device intended to limit the amount of current flowing in an electric circuit. Ballasts vary greatly in complexity. They can be as simple as a series resistor as commonly used with small neon lamps. For higher-power installations, too much energy would be wasted in a resistive ballast, so alternatives are used that depend upon the reactance of inductors, capacitors, or both. Finally, ballasts can be as complex as the computerized, remote-controlled electronic ballasts used with fluorescent lamps.
Why voltage drop occurs?
Every component in a series circuit must have a potential difference across its terminals if current is to flow through that component. We call each of these individual potential differences a 'voltage drop', which is actually a bit of a misnomer as it's not really a 'drop' at all; it would be better termed a 'distribution'. The sum of these 'voltage drops' will then equal the supply voltage applied to the entire circuit.
