statvolt

{{Short description|A CGS-ESU and gaussian unit of voltage}}

{{Infobox

| above = statvolt

| label2 = Unit system | data2 = CGS-ESU and CGS-Gaussian

| label3 = Unit of | data3 = electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force

| label4 = Symbol | data4 = statV

| label5 = Named after | data5 = Alessandro Volta

| label6 = In CGS base units | data6 = g{{sup|1/2}}·cm{{sup|1/2}}/s {{refn|name="Gyllenbok 2018"|

{{cite book

|last1=Gyllenbok |first1=Jan

|title=Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures: Volume 1

|date=2018

|publisher=Birkhäuser |isbn=978-3-319-57598-8 |language=en

}}}}^{:[https://books.google.com/books?id=XnRVDwAAQBAJ&dq=%22Encyclopaedia%20of%20Historical%20Metrology%2C%20Weights%2C%20and%20Measures%22%20vol%201&pg=PA26 26]}

| header7 =Conversions

| data8 = {{val|1|u=statV}} in ...... corresponds to ...

| label9 = SI | data9 = {{math|c}}{{sub|cgs}} {{val|e=-8|ul=volt}}{{br}}= {{val|299.792458|u=volt}}{{efn|name="cCGC"|The dimensionless constant {{math|c}}{{sub|cgs}} {{=}} {{val|2.99792458e10}} is numerically equal to the magnitude of the speed of light when the latter is expressed in {{val|u=cm/s}}.}}

| label10 = CGS-EMU

| data10 = {{math|c}}{{sub|cgs}} abvolt

}}

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 {{math|c}}{{sub|cgs}} {{val|e=-8|ul=volt}},{{efn|name="cCGC"}} i.e. to 299.792458 volts.{{refn|name="Purcell"|{{cite book|last=Purcell|first=Edward|title=Electricity and Magnetism|url=https://archive.org/details/electricitymagne00purc_621|url-access=limited|year=2011|publisher=Cambridge University Press|location=Cambridge|isbn=9781107013605|pages=[https://archive.org/details/electricitymagne00purc_621/page/n493 474]–475|edition=Second}}}}{{efn|As of the 2019 revision of the SI, this correspondence is not longer exact.}}

The statvolt is also defined in the CGS system as 1 erg per statcoulomb.{{refn|name="Purcell"}}

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.{{refn|name="Purcell"}}

In the CGS-EMU system, the unit of voltage is the abvolt.