10.8 Conservation of Electric Energy

Conservation of Electric Energy

Just like with all energy, electric energy is conserved. This means that when a charged particle moves between 2 different points that have different electric potentials, the particle will lose electric potential energy as the particle moves to the lower electric potential (assuming no external forces). This change in energy can be described with ${\Delta U_E=q \Delta V}$. We can equate this lost energy to how much kinetic energy the particle will have after it has moved to a lower electric potential, satisfying conservation of energy.

The opposite also applies when you exert an external force to move a particle to a higher electric potential. The energy it takes to move the particle to the higher potential will be the same as the increase in electric potential energy in the particle, satisfying conservation of energy.