In
electromagnetism
In physics, electromagnetism is an interaction that occurs between particles with electric charge. It is the second-strongest of the four fundamental interactions, after the strong force, and it is the dominant force in the interactions of a ...
, Isopotential maps are a measure of
electrostatic potential
Electrostatics is a branch of physics that studies electric charges at rest (static electricity).
Since classical times, it has been known that some materials, such as amber, attract lightweight particles after rubbing. The Greek word for amber ...
in space. The spatial
derivative
In mathematics, the derivative of a function of a real variable measures the sensitivity to change of the function value (output value) with respect to a change in its argument (input value). Derivatives are a fundamental tool of calculus. F ...
s of an
electrostatic field
An electric field (sometimes E-field) is the physical field that surrounds electrically charged particles and exerts force on all other charged particles in the field, either attracting or repelling them. It also refers to the physical field f ...
indicate the
contours
Contour may refer to:
* Contour (linguistics), a phonetic sound
* Pitch contour
* Contour (camera system), a 3D digital camera system
* Contour, the KDE Plasma 4 interface for tablet devices
* Contour line, a curve along which the function has a ...
of the electrostatic field, so isopotential maps show where another charged molecule might interact, using
equipotential
In mathematics and physics, an equipotential or isopotential refers to a region in space where every point is at the same potential. This usually refers to a scalar potential (in that case it is a level set of the potential), although it can al ...
lines (isopotentials).
Electrostatics
{{electromagnetism-stub