Electric Potential Energy and Potential

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Physics Electromagnetism Electric Potential Energy and Potential

	Potential Energy:
	The potential energy of an object is the energy contained in it due to its position. For example, in the earth’s gravitational field the potential energy of an object having mass m at a height h from the ground is given as: PE = mgh. This is called gravitational potential energy. For a stretched spring, the kind of potential energy is called elastic potential energy. In an electric field, the potential energy of a charge particle or a number of charged particles or a continuous charge distribution is obtained depending upon the position or distance with respect to a reference point. The potential energy in electric field is called electric potential energy. Similarly, in a magnetic field the potential energy is called magnetic potential energy. Electric Potential Energy: When a charge exerts a force on any other charge and potential energy arises from any collection of charges. For example, if a positive charge Q is fixed at some point in space, any other positive charge which is brought close to it will experience a repulsive force repulsive force and will therefore have potential energy. The potential energy of a test charge q in the vicinity of this source charge will be: