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]
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
- ^ 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.
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