Let It Fall, Then Count the Energy

You'll learnto work out what a charge gains falling through a voltage, which way a negative charge falls, and why energy beats kinematics whenever the field is not uniform.

Release a proton between two charged plates and it slams into the far one. How much energy did it pick up, which way would an electron have gone, and what changes when the push is not steady? Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.

12 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · CHARGE TIMES VOLTAGE · WHICH WAY IT FALLS · FLAT vs ZERO · v2

energy gained = charge × voltage · flat V is not zero V

Before you start

What you're looking at

Charged particles let loose in electric fields: between two plates, near a point charge, and around a charged metal ball.

The question

What does a charge gain by falling through a voltage, and which way does it fall?

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