What are volts?

What are volts?

• A. Joules per coulomb
• B. Volt-amps
• C. Coulombs per second
• D. Newton-meters per coulomb

Answer: (A)

Volts measure the energy transferred per unit of electric charge as charge moves between two points. By definition, voltage is the electric potential difference, which is the work done to move one coulomb of charge from one point to another, divided by the amount of charge. Since work is measured in joules and charge in coulombs, the volt is joules per coulomb. In other words, 1 volt = 1 joule per coulomb. This helps distinguish volts from other quantities: volt-amps refers to apparent power in AC circuits, coulombs per second is current (how much charge flows per second), and Newton-meters per coulomb is another way to express energy per charge (since a joule is a Newton-meter), but the standard, clearest way to define voltage is joules per coulomb.

Volts measure the energy transferred per unit of electric charge as charge moves between two points. By definition, voltage is the electric potential difference, which is the work done to move one coulomb of charge from one point to another, divided by the amount of charge. Since work is measured in joules and charge in coulombs, the volt is joules per coulomb. In other words, 1 volt = 1 joule per coulomb.

This helps distinguish volts from other quantities: volt-amps refers to apparent power in AC circuits, coulombs per second is current (how much charge flows per second), and Newton-meters per coulomb is another way to express energy per charge (since a joule is a Newton-meter), but the standard, clearest way to define voltage is joules per coulomb.