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College Physics

Glossary

College PhysicsGlossary

Glossary

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
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