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Potential
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<p>Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized <a href="/facts/Ability/swbATDKQ">ability</a>. The term is used in a wide variety of fields, from <a href="/facts/Physics/a7aH2y08">physics</a> to the <a href="/facts/Social_sciences/hAbm1xtD">social sciences</a> to indicate things that are in a state where they are able to change in ways ranging from the simple release of energy by objects to the realization of abilities in people. </p><p>The <a href="/facts/Philosophy/zAH5PVD6">philosopher</a> <a href="/facts/Aristotle/U2bDlBFW">Aristotle</a> incorporated this concept into his theory of <a href="/facts/Potentiality_and_actuality/JFC0nVdx">potentiality and actuality</a> (in Greek, <i>dynamis</i> and <i>energeia</i>), translated into Latin as <i>potentia</i> and <i>actualitas</i> (earlier also <i>possibilitas</i> and <i>efficacia</i>). a pair of closely connected principles which he used to analyze <a href="/facts/Motion_(physics)/dCnP7MlB">motion</a>, <a href="/facts/Four_causes/zvJjs6Hq">causality</a>, <a href="/facts/Aristotelian_ethics/qz5FTuQC">ethics</a>, and <a href="/facts/Physiology/fh25y2pQ">physiology</a> in his <i><a href="/facts/Aristotelian_physics/1EpHTb2Q">Physics</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/Metaphysics_(Aristotle)/JMUeXs0l">Metaphysics</a></i>, <i><a href="/facts/Nicomachean_Ethics/QsCgUJ10">Nicomachean Ethics</a></i>, and <i><a href="/facts/De_Anima/a2xzlAV2">De Anima</a></i>, which is about the human <a href="/facts/Psyche_(psychology)/PI2cpEPT">psyche</a>. That which is potential can theoretically be made actual by taking the right action; for example, a boulder on the edge of a cliff has potential to fall that could be actualized by pushing it over the edge. </p><p>In physics, a potential may refer to the <a href="/facts/Scalar_potential/lXKtCr1c">scalar potential</a> or to the <a href="/facts/Vector_potential/GgvfE8AM">vector potential</a>. In either case, it is a field defined in space, from which many important physical properties may be derived. Leading examples are the <a href="/facts/Gravitational_potential/x4ITT4gY">gravitational potential</a> and the <a href="/facts/Electric_potential/Nmqm6hm5">electric potential</a>, from which the motion of gravitating or electrically charged bodies may be obtained. Specific forces have associated potentials, including the <a href="/facts/Coulomb_potential/Nmqm6hm5">Coulomb potential</a>, the <a href="/facts/Van_der_Waals_potential/jyGU8Vh9">van der Waals potential</a>, the <a href="/facts/Lennard-Jones_potential/yXwcgLmh">Lennard-Jones potential</a> and the <a href="/facts/Yukawa_potential/TmPzXYpx">Yukawa potential</a>. In electrochemistry there are <a href="/facts/Galvani_potential/gn7JhdU7">Galvani potential</a>, <a href="/facts/Volta_potential/1F2v3QmG">Volta potential</a>, <a href="/facts/Electrode_potential/LfPpMt0u">electrode potential</a>, and <a href="/facts/Standard_electrode_potential/YQUhbI6K">standard electrode potential</a>. In the <a href="/facts/Thermodynamics/q4hIx3yP">thermodynamics</a>, the term <i>potential</i> often refers to <a href="/facts/Thermodynamic_potential/rBnf2hB6">thermodynamic potential</a>. </p>