Electron-volt

1 definition found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  electron-volt \electron-volt\ n.
     a unit of energy, being equal to the kinetic energy acquired
     by an electron when accelerated through a potential
     difference of one volt. It is equal to 1.602 x 10^{-19}
     Joules. It is abbreviated eV.
  


     Note: The unit electron-volt is often used to express the
           rest mass and the energy of fundamental particles,
           especially when accelerated to high velocity in an
           accelerator. In accelerators, the units encountered are
           more commonly megaelectron-volts (MeV or million
           electron-volts) and giga-electron-volts (GeV or billion
           electron-volts).
           [PJC]