Chronology Current Month Current Thread Current Date
[Year List] [Month List (current year)] [Date Index] [Thread Index] [Thread Prev] [Thread Next] [Date Prev] [Date Next]

Re: Faraday induction



John S. Denker wrote:

=====================

The term "EMF" carries the following unfortunate baggage:
1) The quantity it represents is an energy per unit charge,
so why call it a force?

2) Sometimes people use the term as synonymous with voltage, while
other people use it to refer to the non-potential part of the
voltage, to the exclusion of the potential-type voltage.
a) I don't like the concept of such a distinction. Test charges
don't know the difference between one type of electrical field
and another. Such a distinction is inadvisable in elementary
situations (slowly-varying fields) and physically untenable in
more general situations.
b) This is a non-standard use of the word. I don't object to non-
standard usages if people define their terms as they go along,
but it's a real problem if authors throw around non-standard terms
without defining them, and expect readers to divine the meaning.

My recommended solution: I just talk about "voltage". It's easy. It
removes any temptation to talk about "EMF".


Is there a conventional definition of voltage? If so, what is it? Is the
definition valid in a region where there is both a rotational and an
irrotational electric field? Does the voltage of a battery differ from the
terminal potential difference?


**************************
* Eugene P. Mosca *
* 301 Constitution Blvd. *
* Kutztown, PA 19530 *
* (610) 683-3597 home *
* emosca@ptd.net *
**************************