• DocumentCode
    3383285
  • Title

    The difference between voltage and potential difference

  • Author

    Vujevic, Slavko ; Modric, Tonci ; Lovric, Dino

  • Author_Institution
    Fac. of Electr. Eng., Mech. Eng. & Naval Archit., Univ. of Split, Split, Croatia
  • fYear
    2011
  • fDate
    25-27 July 2011
  • Firstpage
    1
  • Lastpage
    7
  • Abstract
    In this paper some basic terms such as voltage and potential difference are presented. In many cases they are regarded as identical which leads to confusion with understanding of the fundamental concept of electromagnetic field. Related to this topic, some authors in their books and papers on electromagnetic theory have discussed what the voltmeter actually measures, which is resolved here in a simple way. In this paper it is shown that there is a difference between the terms voltage and potential difference depending on what is the observation point static fields or time-varying fields. Also in the transmission line model, the voltage between two points depends on the path of integration and, therefore, is ambiguous. What is commonly referred to as voltage, is transversal voltage that is a special case of voltage equal to the potential difference that is unique. Similarly, in electrical circuit analysis, branch voltages are unique and equal to difference of nodal voltages (nodal potentials).
  • Keywords
    electric fields; electric potential; electromagnetic field theory; voltmeters; branch voltage; electrical circuit analysis; electromagnetic field; electromagnetic theory; electromotive force; nodal potential; nodal voltage; potential difference; static field; time-varying field; transmission line model; transversal voltage; voltmeter; Electric fields; Electric potential; Equations; Force; Magnetic flux; Power transmission lines; Voltmeters; electric field intensity; induced electromotive force; potential difference; static fields; time-varying fields; voltage;
  • fLanguage
    English
  • Publisher
    ieee
  • Conference_Titel
    Nonlinear Dynamics and Synchronization (INDS) & 16th Int'l Symposium on Theoretical Electrical Engineering (ISTET), 2011 Joint 3rd Int'l Workshop on
  • Conference_Location
    Klagenfurt
  • Print_ISBN
    978-1-4577-0759-9
  • Type

    conf

  • DOI
    10.1109/INDS.2011.6024799
  • Filename
    6024799