Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability, in a wide variety of fields from physics to the social sciences.
Mathematics and physics
- Scalar potential, a scalar field whose gradient is a given vector field
- Vector potential, a vector field whose curl is a given vector field
- Potential function (disambiguation)
- Potential variable (Boolean differential calculus)
- Potential energy, the energy possessed by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors
- Magnetic vector potential
- Magnetic scalar potential (ψ)
- Electric potential, the amount of work needed to move a unit positive charge from a reference point to a specific point inside the field without producing any acceleration
- Electromagnetic four-potential, a relativistic vector function from which the electromagnetic field can be derived
- Coulomb potential
- Van der Waals force, distance-dependent interactions between atoms or molecules
- Lennard-Jones potential, a mathematical model that approximates the interaction between a pair of neutral atoms or molecules.
- Yukawa potential, a potential in particle physics which may arise from the exchange of a massive scalar field
- Gravitational potential
Biology
- Action potential, occurs when the membrane potential of a specific axon location rapidly rises and falls: this depolarisation then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarise
- Membrane potential, the difference in electric potential between the interior and the exterior of a biological cell. With respect to the exterior of the cell, typical values of membrane potential range from –40 mV to –80 mV
- Water potential, the potential energy of water per unit volume relative to pure water in reference conditions
Linguistics
Popular culture
- "Potential" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), an episode of a television series
- Potential and new Slayers, characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
- Potential (song), a song by Danielle Bradbery on her album, I Don't Believe We've Met
Philosophy and society
- Potentiality and actuality, a "possibility" that a thing can be said to have
- Human Potential Movement, a social movement which asserts that all people have extraordinary untapped potential capacities
See also
Topics referred to by the same term This disambiguation page lists articles associated with the title Potential.If an internal link led you here, you may wish to change the link to point directly to the intended article. Category: