Potensial

Potensial is a term used in several languages, notably Indonesian and Malay, to denote potential, capacity, or possibility. In everyday speech it refers to latent abilities or underused capabilities in a person, system, or situation, such as recognizing someone’s potensial for growth or success. The word emphasizes what could be realized under the right conditions.

In physics, potential concepts appear mainly as potential energy and electric potential. Potential energy is the energy a system possesses due to its position within a force field, such as gravity or a conservative force. If a system’s potential energy is U(x), the force is given by F = -∇U, i.e., the negative gradient of the potential energy. Electric potential, or potential, is the energy per unit charge. The electric field E equals -∇φ, and the potential difference between two points equals the work done per unit charge in moving a test charge between those points. Potentials are defined up to an additive constant, since only differences in potential have physical significance.

In mathematics, a potential function is a scalar field whose gradient yields a given vector field. This idea lies at the heart of potential theory, which studies harmonic and subharmonic functions, Green’s identities, and related concepts. The Newtonian potential and related kernels model how mass or charge distributions generate fields in space.

Beyond science, potensial commonly appears in discussions of human development, planning, and risk assessment, where it denotes the capacity for future achievement or the likelihood of certain outcomes. Etymology traces back to Latin potens, meaning powerful or capable.