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Electronvolt

Substitution

Can someone please explain this to me:

energy gained by electron (eV) = accelerating voltage (V)

Thanks

Reply 1

cole-slaw

Original post by Substitution

Can someone please explain this to me:

energy gained by electron (eV) = accelerating voltage (V)

Thanks

energy = charge times voltage (aka electric potential)

charge of an electron is e
voltage is V
so the energ yheld by an electron at potential V is eV.

Reply 2

Ilovemaths96

Potential is defined as the work done per unit charge. v = e or w / q

Reply 3

physics4ever

Original post by Substitution

Can someone please explain this to me:

energy gained by electron (eV) = accelerating voltage (V)

Thanks

it means 1 Volt accelerates the electron so that it gains 1 eV of kinetic energy, this is only for electrons, or something with the same charge as an electron

1 eV of kinetic energy is E = VQ = 1 x e joules , because the electron is accelerated by 1 volt and the electron has a charge e, but because this energy e, is small, the electron volt was made as a new unit for convenience, which just means 1 eV is e joules

(edited 10 years ago)

Reply 4

Stonebridge

Original post by Substitution

Can someone please explain this to me:

energy gained by electron (eV) = accelerating voltage (V)

Thanks

It doesn't really have an "explanation" beyond the fact that it is a definition. So it has been defined to be equal.

Definition.
One electron volt is the amount of energy gained or lost by one electron moving through a pd of 1 volt.

It's rather like asking why a force of 1N accelerates a mass of 1kg with an acceleration of 1m/s/s