Volt

This article is about the SI derived unit. For the Chevrolet car, see Chevrolet Volt. For the Toyota car, see Toyota Alessandro Volta. For the French-language Canadian television series, see Volt (TV series). For the AC/DC album, see Volts (album).

Josephson junction array chip developed by NIST as a standard volt.

The volt (symbol: V) is the SI derived unit of electric potential difference or electromotive force, commonly known as voltage.^[1]^[2] It is named in honor of the Lombard physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827), who invented the voltaic pile, the first chemical battery.

1 Definition
- 1.1 Josephson junction definition
2 Hydraulic analogy
3 Common voltages
4 History of the volt
5 See also
6 References
7 External links

Definition

The volt is defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power.^[3] Hence, it is the base SI representation m² · kg · s^-3 · A^-1, which can be equally represented as one joule of energy per coulomb of charge, J/C.

$\mbox{V} = \dfrac{\mbox{W}}{\mbox{A}} = \dfrac{\mbox{J}}{\mbox{C}} = \dfrac{\mbox{N} \cdot \mbox{m} }{\mbox{A} \cdot \mbox{s}} = \dfrac{\mbox{kg} \cdot \mbox{m}^2}{\mbox{A} \cdot \mbox{s}^{3}}$

Josephson junction definition

Since 1990 the volt has been maintained internationally for practical measurement using the Josephson effect, where a conventional value is used for the Josephson constant, fixed by the 18th General Conference on Weights and Measures as

K_{J-90} = 0.4835979 GHz/µV.

Hydraulic analogy

In the hydraulic analogy sometimes used to explain electric circuits by comparing them to water-filled pipes, voltage is likened to water pressure – it determines how fast the electrons will travel through the circuit. Current (in amperes), in the same analogy, is a measure of the volume of water that flows past a given point per unit time (volumetric flow rate). The flow rate is determined by the width of the pipe (analogous to electrical resistance) and the pressure difference between the front end of the pipe and the exit (potential difference or voltage). The analogy extends to power dissipation: the power given up by the water flow is equal to flow rate times pressure, just as the power dissipated in a resistor is equal to current times the voltage drop across the resistor (amperes x volts = watts).

The relationship between voltage and current (in ohmic devices) is defined by Ohm's Law.

Common voltages

A multimeter can be used to measure the voltage between two points

1.5 V C-cell batteries

Nominal voltages of familiar sources:

Nerve cell action potential: around 75 mV^[4]
Single-cell, rechargeable NiMH or NiCd battery: 1.2 V
Mercury battery: 1.355 V
Single-cell, non-rechargeable alkaline battery (e.g. AAA, AA, C and D cells): 1.5 V
Lithium polymer rechargeable battery: 3.75 V
Transistor-transistor logic/CMOS (TTL) power supply: 5 V
PP3 battery: 9 V
Automobile electrical system: "12 V", about 11.8 V discharged, 12.8 V charged, and 13.8-14.4 V while charging (vehicle running).
Household mains electricity: 240 V RMS in Australia, 230 V RMS in Europe, Asia and Africa, 120 V RMS in North America, 100 V RMS in Japan (see List of countries with mains power plugs, voltages and frequencies)
Commercial and Military Jet aircraft: 400 V AC, 28 V DC
Rapid transit third rail: 600 to 750 V (see List of current systems for electric rail traction)
High speed train overhead power lines: 25 kV RMS at 50 Hz, but see the list of current systems for electric rail traction for exceptions.
High voltage electric power transmission lines: 110 kV RMS and up (1150 kV RMS was the record as of 2005)
Lightning: Varies greatly, often around 100 MV.

Note: Where 'RMS' (root mean square) is stated above, the peak voltage is $\sqrt{2}$ times greater than the RMS voltage for a sinusoidal signal centered around zero voltage.

History of the volt

In 1800, as the result of a professional disagreement over the galvanic response advocated by Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta developed the so-called Voltaic pile, a forerunner of the battery, which produced a steady electric current. Volta had determined that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity was zinc and silver. In the 1880s, the International Electrical Congress, now the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), approved the volt for electromotive force. At that time, the volt was defined as the potential difference across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power.

The international volt was defined in 1893 as 1/1.434 of the emf of a Clark cell. This definition was abandoned in 1908 in favor of a definition based on the international ohm and international ampere until the entire set of "reproducible units" was abandoned in 1948.

Prior to the development of the Josephson junction voltage standard, the volt was maintained in national laboratories using specially constructed batteries called standard cells. The United States used a design called the Weston cell from 1905 to 1972.

This SI unit is named after Alessandro Volta. As with every SI unit whose name is derived from the proper name of a person, the first letter of its symbol is uppercase (V). When an SI unit is spelled out in English, it should always begin with a lowercase letter (volt), except where any word would be capitalized, such as at the beginning of a sentence or in capitalized material such as a title. Note that "degree Celsius" conforms to this rule because the "d" is lowercase.

— Based on The International System of Units, section 5.2.

References

↑ "SI Brochure, Table 3 (Section 2.2.2)". BIPM (2006). Retrieved on 2007-07-29.
↑ Rudolf F. Graf, "Volt", Dictionary of Electronics; Radio Shack, 1974-75. Fort Worth, Texas. ISBN B000AMFOZY
↑ BIPM SI Brochure: Appendix 1, p. 144
↑ The dual effect of membrane potential on sodium conductance in the giant axon of Loligo. J Physiol 1952 Apr;116(4):497-506. PMID 14946715