A charged particle moves from a region of high potential to low potential. What
Practice Questions
Q1
A charged particle moves from a region of high potential to low potential. What happens to its kinetic energy?
It increases
It decreases
It remains constant
It becomes zero
Questions & Step-by-Step Solutions
A charged particle moves from a region of high potential to low potential. What happens to its kinetic energy?
Correct Answer: Kinetic energy increases.
Step 1: Understand that a charged particle has potential energy when it is in an electric field.
Step 2: Recognize that high potential means the particle has more potential energy.
Step 3: When the particle moves to a low potential area, it loses potential energy.
Step 4: Know that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed.
Step 5: The lost potential energy is converted into kinetic energy.
Step 6: Therefore, as the particle moves from high potential to low potential, its kinetic energy increases.
Electric Potential Energy – The energy a charged particle possesses due to its position in an electric field, which decreases as it moves from high to low potential.
Kinetic Energy – The energy of a particle due to its motion, which increases as potential energy decreases when moving from high to low potential.
Conservation of Energy – The principle that energy cannot be created or destroyed, only transformed from one form to another, such as from potential energy to kinetic energy.
