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A general unit of energy of moving particles, equal to the kinetic energy acquired by an electron losing one volt of potential, equal to 1.602 x 10-19 J.

This is the energy an electron (or other particle of charge=1 such as a proton), gains as it is accelerated through a potential difference of 1 volt. In plasma physics the electron-volt is used as a unit of temperature when the mean particle energy is 1 eV, the temperature of the plasma is roughly 11, 600 Kelvin (the conversion from eV to K is via the Boltzmann constant).

Abbreviation: eV

Acronym: eV

(09 Oct 1997)