95.6k views
2 votes
A battery's "voltage" is

A. the amount of electrical charge it can send around an electrical circuit in every second.
B. the amount of electrical resistance it can overcome.
C. the amount of electrical current it produces.
D. the amount of energy it gives to each coulomb of electrical charge.

User Satnam
by
8.0k points

1 Answer

4 votes

Final answer:

Voltage indicates the amount of energy given to each coulomb of charge by a battery; therefore, the correct answer is D, representing the electrical potential energy per unit charge.

Step-by-step explanation:

The student's question pertains to what a battery's "voltage" indicates. Option D is the correct answer: Voltage is the amount of energy it gives to each coulomb of electrical charge. In physics, particularly when discussing a battery like the lead-acid battery, an energy of 2 electron volts (eV) is given to each electron sent to the anode. Essentially, voltage is defined as the electrical potential energy (PE) per unit charge (q), or V = PE/q. An electron volt is the amount of energy conferred to a single electron by a voltage of one volt. The distinct molecular reactions producing this energy result in the specific voltage of a battery.

User Micoru
by
7.5k points