When you study electricity in physics, you constantly hear the word 'Voltage'. However, in strict scientific terms, Voltage is officially known as Electric Potential Difference.
Without Potential Difference, a battery is completely useless, and not a single electron will ever move through a wire.
Definition: The work done to move 1 Coulomb of charge from point A to point B.
Common Name: It is universally known as 'Voltage'.
SI Unit: Volt (V), named after Italian physicist Alessandro Volta.
Measuring Device: Voltmeter (Always connected in Parallel).
Formula: V = W / Q (Voltage = Work / Charge).
The Potential Difference between two points in an electric circuit is strictly defined as the amount of Work Done (energy used) to move a unit positive charge (1 Coulomb) from one point to the other.
The physics formula for Potential Difference is: V = W / Q
Therefore, if an AA battery does exactly 1 Joule of work to push 1 Coulomb of charge through a wire, the battery has a potential difference of exactly 1 Volt.
To measure the Potential Difference acting across a lightbulb, a scientist uses a device called a Voltmeter. A voltmeter must always be connected strictly in Parallel across the component, never in series, because it needs to measure the 'difference' in pressure between the starting point and the ending point.
Potential difference is defined as the amount of work done in bringing a unit positive charge from one point to another in an electric circuit.
The official SI unit of potential difference is the Volt (V).
In basic electrical engineering, they are the exact same thing. 'Voltage' is simply the casual, everyday term used to describe the scientific concept of Potential Difference.
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