# Physics:Statvolt

Short description: A CGS-ESU and gaussian unit of voltage
statvolt
Unit systemCGS-ESU and gaussian
Unit ofelectric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force
SymbolstatV
Named afterAlessandro Volta
In CGS base unitsg1/2·cm1/2/s [1]:26
Conversions
1 statV in ...... corresponds to ...
SI derived unitsccgs 10−8 volt
=299.792458 volt[Note 1]
CGS-EMUccgs abvolt

The statvolt is a unit of voltage and electrical potential used in the CGS-ESU and gaussian systems of units. In terms of its relation to the SI units, one statvolt corresponds to exactly ccgs 10−8 volt,[Note 1] i.e. to 299.792458 volts.[2]

The statvolt is also defined in the CGS system as 1 erg / statcoulomb.[2]

It is a useful unit for electromagnetism because, in a vacuum, an electric field of one statvolt per centimetre has the same energy density as a magnetic field of one gauss. Likewise, a plane wave propagating in a vacuum has perpendicular electric and magnetic fields such that for every gauss of magnetic field intensity there is one statvolt/cm of electric field intensity.[2]

In the CGS-EMU system, the unit of voltage is the abvolt.

## Notes

1. The dimensionless constant ccgs = 2.99792458×1010 is numerically equal to the magnitude of the speed of light when the latter is expressed in cm/s.

## References

1. Gyllenbok, Jan (2018) (in en). Encyclopaedia of Historical Metrology, Weights, and Measures: Volume 1. Birkhäuser. ISBN 978-3-319-57598-8.
2. Purcell, Edward (2011). Electricity and Magnetism (Second ed.). Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. pp. 474–475. ISBN 9781107013605.