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Lesson: Chapter 19 — Current Electricity

19.3. Potential difference 2 of 5

What potential difference is

The electric pressure difference the water tank stands for has a proper name.

Potential difference

The electric pressure difference set up across a conductor is called the potential difference.

The unit

The unit used for measuring potential difference is the volt.

V

The volt (V) — the unit in which potential difference is measured.

It is always between two points

Notice that a potential difference is never a property of one place on its own. It is a difference, so it is always quoted between two points — across a bulb, across a cell, between the two ends of a wire. A question that asks for "the potential difference" without naming two points has not finished asking.

Potential difference is measured in volts

Potential difference is the electric push that drives a current, it is measured in volts (V), and it always exists between two points.