Final answer:
Electric potential and electric field are both associated with electric charges and represent potential energy, but they have differences in their nature and how they are calculated.
Step-by-step explanation:
In physics, electric potential and electric field are related but have some key differences.
Similarities:
- Both electric potential and electric field represent potential energy.
- Both are associated with electric charges.
Differences:
- Electric potential is a scalar, meaning it has magnitude but no direction, while electric field is a vector with both magnitude and direction.
- Adding individual voltages as numbers gives the total voltage in electric potential, whereas adding individual electric fields as vectors gives the total electric field.