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How exactly can you go from conservation of energy to KVL, a law of voltages?

See above question for how to think about energy conservation for the Loop Rule. Voltage is energy per charge. Energy conservation guarantees that the energy given to a charge by the battery must be the same amount as dissipated by the resistor. A charge going in a full loop must end up at the same potential it started with, so the sum of the voltage differences around the loop must be zero.



Kate Scholberg 2017-01-17