volt

volt 1   (vōlt)    n.   Abbr. V The International System unit of electric potential and electromotive force, equal to the difference of electric potential between two points on a conducting wire carrying a constant current of one ampere when the power dissipated between the points is one watt. See Table at measurement. [After Count Alessandro Volta.]

Main Entry: volt
Pronunciation: 'vOlt
Function: noun
1 : the practical mks unit of electrical potential difference and electromotive force equal tothe difference of potential between two points in a conducting wire carrying a constant current of one ampere when the power dissipated between these two points is equal to one watt and equivalent tothe potential difference across a resistance of one ohm when one ampere is flowing through it
2 : a unit of electrical potential difference and electromotive force equal to 1.00034volts and formerly taken as the standard in the U.S.
Voláta /'vol-tä/, Alessandro Giuseppe Antonio Anastasio (1745–1827), Italian physicist. Volta servedas professor of physics at the University of Pavia, Italy, from 1779 to 1804. From 1815 he was director of the philosophical faculty at the University of Padua, Italy. His interest in electricity ledhim to invent in 1775 a device used to generate static electricity. In 1800 he demonstrated his electric battery for the first time. The volt, a unit of potential difference that drives current, wasnamed in his honor.

volt (vōlt)
n.
Abbr. V
A unit of electromotive force in the Internation System of Units that will produce a current of 1 ampere in a circuit that has resistance of 1 ohm.

volt   (vōlt)  Pronunciation Key  The SI derived unit used to measure electric potential at a given point, usually a point in an electric circuit. A voltage difference of one volt drives one ampere of current through a conductor that has a resistance of one ohm. One joule of work is required to move an electric charge of one coulomb across a potential difference of one volt. One volt is equivalent to one joule per coulomb. See also Ohm's law.

volt

unit of electrical potential, potential difference and electromotive force in the metre-kilogram-second system (SI); it is equal to the difference in potential between two points in a conductor carrying one ampere current when the power dissipated between the points is one watt. An equivalent is the potential difference across a resistance of one ohm when one ampere is flowing through it. The volt is named in honour of the 18th-19th-century Italian physicist Alessandro Volta. These units are defined in accordance with Ohm's law, that resistance equals the ratio of potential to current, and the respective units of ohm, volt, and ampere are used universally for expressing electrical quantities. See also electric potential; electromotive force.

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