Re: [Phys-l] Textbook petpeeves: circuits

["Robert Cohen" <Robert.Cohen@po-box.esu.edu>]

FWIW, I use a compromise: I use "Delta V" with DC circuits and then
switch over to "V" when using AC circuits.  Since most people don't use
the "Delta V" convention, I don't want to leave my students with an
unconventional usage.

I also have a question:

On Monday, February 20, 2006 5:30 PM, John Denker wrote:
> Another way to solve the problem is to label all the nodes 
> and just write the voltage difference as (ahem) a difference 
> of voltages:
>
>      Va - Vb = I r1
>      Vb - Vc = I r2
>      Vc - Vd = I r3

I'm a little confused (as always).  In the situation being discussed, I
have used "voltage" to be equivalent to "difference in potential".
Thus, we could refer to the "voltage" across a resistor or the
"potential difference" across the resistor but NOT the "voltage
difference" across the resistor.  Am I wrong in doing so?  When we refer
to the voltage across a resistor, do we really mean the "difference in
voltage across the resistor"?

____________________________________________________
Robert Cohen, Chair, Department of Physics
East Stroudsburg University; E. Stroudsburg, PA 18301
570-422-3428; www.esu.edu/~bbq