elektronvoltens

The elektronvolt, often abbreviated as eV, is a unit of energy commonly used in particle physics, atomic physics, and plasma physics. It is not an SI unit, but it is widely accepted and used by the scientific community. One elektronvolt is defined as the amount of kinetic energy gained by a single electron when it is accelerated through an electric potential difference of one volt.

Mathematically, the elektronvolt is equivalent to the elementary charge (e) multiplied by one volt (V). The approximate value of one elektronvolt in joules is 1.602 x 10^-19 J. Due to its small size, larger units such as kilo-elektronvolts (keV), mega-elektronvolts (MeV), and giga-elektronvolts (GeV) are frequently employed to describe the energies of subatomic particles. For instance, the mass of an electron is approximately 0.511 MeV/c^2, and the Large Hadron Collider accelerates particles to energies of several TeV. The elektronvolt is particularly useful because it provides a convenient way to relate energy to mass through Einstein's famous equation, E=mc^2, and to describe the energies involved in nuclear reactions and the interactions of light with matter.