Lexicon Suspense

Voltage (electric) is a measure of the energy required to move an electric charge through an electric field, or the energy released when an electric charge moves through an electric field. The unit for electric voltage is the volt (after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta), abbreviated V.

An electric voltage is created when you separate electric charges, for example by separating electrons with their negative charge from protons with their positive charge. Since the two attract each other, energy must be expended to separate them, and an electric field is created between the separated charges. The energy used is released again when the particles are allowed to follow their attraction and move towards each other.

Instead of voltage we also talk about electric potential, voltage differences are also called potential difference.

See also:

• Wikipedia articles: electric potential, Alessandro Volta