Electromotive Force
Source of energy that can cause a current to flow in an electrical circuit or device.
The rate at which energy is drawn from this source when unit current flows through the circuit or device, measured in volts Abbreviation: emf, EMF. Symbol: E. Compare potential difference.
Electromotive force, abbreviation E or emf, energy per unit electric charge that is imparted by an energy source, such as an electric generator or a battery. Energy is converted from one form to another in the generator or battery as the device does work on the electric charge being transferred within itself. One terminal of the device becomes positively charged, the other becomes negatively charged. The work done on a unit of electric charge, or the energy thereby gained per unit electric charge, is the electromotive force. Electromotive force is the characteristic of any energy source capable of driving electric charge around a circuit. It is abbreviated E in the international metric system but also, popularly, as emf.
The concept of electromotive force as first presented by Volta seems to be all but forgotten. Introduction of the term often occurs without any definition at all and is often confused with electrostatic potential difference. When a formal definition is given it is usually neither in accord with Volta’s original idea nor conceptually useful or comprehensible. We emphasize Volta’s use of the term to describe nonelectrostatic action on charges. The relationship of emf’s to electrostatic potential differences is presented through the introduction of electrostatic and nonelectrostatic fields (as was described by Abraham in 1904). A failure to note a distinction between these types of electric fields mars some highly important works including J. C. Maxwell’s.
Collins English Dictionary “Repagination”, 2018 https://www.collinsdictionary.com/dictionary/english/repagination
Adam Augustyn.The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica/1768
Robert J. Bartz CWTS, CWS, and CWT Complete Study Guide. Published by John Wiley & Sons, 2017. –