Skip to Content Go to accessibility page Keyboard shortcuts menu

College Physics for AP® Courses 2e

Glossary

College Physics for AP® Courses 2eGlossary

capacitance: amount of charge stored per unit volt

capacitor: a device that stores electric charge

defibrillator: a machine used to provide an electrical shock to a heart attack victim's heart in order to restore the heart's normal rhythmic pattern

dielectric: an insulating material

dielectric strength: the maximum electric field above which an insulating material begins to break down and conduct

electric potential: potential energy per unit charge

electron volt: the energy given to a fundamental charge accelerated through a potential difference of one volt

equipotential line: a line along which the electric potential is constant

grounding: fixing a conductor at zero volts by connecting it to the earth or ground

mechanical energy: sum of the kinetic energy and potential energy of a system; this sum is a constant

parallel plate capacitor: two identical conducting plates separated by a distance

polar molecule: a molecule with inherent separation of charge

potential difference (or voltage): change in potential energy of a charge moved from one point to another, divided by the charge; units of potential difference are joules per coulomb, known as volt

scalar: physical quantity with magnitude but no direction

vector: physical quantity with both magnitude and direction

Order a print copy

Citation/Attribution

This book may not be used in the training of large language models or otherwise be ingested into large language models or generative AI offerings without OpenStax's permission.

Want to cite, share, or modify this book? This book uses the Creative Commons Attribution License and you must attribute OpenStax.

Attribution information

If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a print format, then you must include on every physical page the following attribution:
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses
If you are redistributing all or part of this book in a digital format, then you must include on every digital page view the following attribution:
Access for free at https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses

Citation information

Use the information below to generate a citation. We recommend using a citation tool such as this one.
- Authors: Gregg Wolfe, Erika Gasper, John Stoke, Julie Kretchman, David Anderson, Nathan Czuba, Sudhi Oberoi, Liza Pujji, Irina Lyublinskaya, Douglas Ingram
- Publisher/website: OpenStax
- Book title: College Physics for AP® Courses 2e
- Publication date: Jul 19, 2022
- Location: Houston, Texas
- Book URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/1-connection-for-ap-r-courses
- Section URL: https://openstax.org/books/college-physics-ap-courses-2e/pages/19-glossary

© Jul 9, 2024 OpenStax. Textbook content produced by OpenStax is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution License . The OpenStax name, OpenStax logo, OpenStax book covers, OpenStax CNX name, and OpenStax CNX logo are not subject to the Creative Commons license and may not be reproduced without the prior and express written consent of Rice University.