The statvolt is a unit of voltage and electrical potential used in the CGS-ESU and gaussian systems of units. In terms of its relation to the SI units, one statvolt corresponds to ccgs 10−8 volt,[a] i.e. to 299.792458 volts.[2][b]
| statvolt | |
|---|---|
| Unit system | CGS-ESU and CGS-Gaussian |
| Unit of | electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force |
| Symbol | statV |
| Named after | Alessandro Volta |
| In CGS base units | g1/2·cm1/2/s [1]:26 |
| Conversions | |
| 1 statV in ... | ... corresponds to ... |
| SI | ccgs 10−8 volt = 299.792458 volt[a] |
| CGS-EMU | ccgs abvolt |
The statvolt is also defined in the CGS system as 1 erg per statcoulomb.[2] It is a useful unit for electromagnetism because, in vacuum, an electric field of one statvolt per centimetre has the same energy density as a magnetic field of one gauss. Likewise, a plane wave propagating in vacuum has perpendicular electric and magnetic fields such that for every gauss of magnetic field intensity there is one statvolt/cm of electric field intensity.[2]
In the CGS-EMU system, the unit of voltage is the abvolt.
Notes
edit- ^ a b The dimensionless constant ccgs = 2.99792458×1010 is numerically equal to the magnitude of the speed of light when the latter is expressed in cm/s.
- ^ As of the 2019 revision of the SI, this correspondence is not longer exact.
References
edit- ^ Gyllenbok, Jan (2018). Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures: Volume 1. Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-319-57598-8.
- ^ a b c Purcell, Edward (2011). Electricity and Magnetism (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 474–475. ISBN 9781107013605.