Every Place Has a Number

You'll learnwhat the number at every point means, why potentials add as plain signed numbers, and why a zero potential says nothing at all about the field.

Halfway between a positive and a negative charge the potential is exactly zero, and the field there is the strongest it gets anywhere on the line. Twelve short steps; press Next for each one.

12 STEPS · 6 QUICK CHECKS · V AGAINST U · SIGNED NUMBERS · ZERO SAYS NOTHING · v2

V is a signed number at each point · E is how fast that number changes

Before you start

What you're looking at

Charges on a line, with the potential along that line plotted as a curve underneath. Potential is a single number at each point, so a curve can hold all of it.

The question

If the potential at a point is zero, is there any push on a charge placed there?

Step 1 / 12