Potential (disambiguation)

Potential generally refers to a currently unrealized ability, in a wide variety of fields from physics to the social sciences.

Mathematics and physics

 * Scalar potential, a scalar field whose gradient is a given vector field
 * Vector potential, a vector field whose curl is a given vector field
 * Potential function (disambiguation)
 * Potential variable (Boolean differential calculus)
 * Potential energy, the energy possessed by an object because of its position relative to other objects, stresses within itself, its electric charge, or other factors
 * Magnetic vector potential
 * Magnetic scalar potential (ψ)
 * Electric potential, the amount of work needed to move a unit positive charge from a reference point to a specific point inside the field without producing any acceleration
 * Electromagnetic four-potential, a relativistic vector function from which the electromagnetic field can be derived
 * Coulomb potential
 * Van der Waals force, distance-dependent interactions between atoms or molecules
 * Lennard-Jones potential, a mathematical model that approximates the interaction between a pair of neutral atoms or molecules.
 * Yukawa potential, a potential in particle physics which may arise from the exchange of a massive scalar field
 * Gravitational potential

Biology

 * Action potential, occurs when the membrane potential of a specific axon location rapidly rises and falls: this depolarisation then causes adjacent locations to similarly depolarise
 * Membrane potential, the difference in electric potential between the interior and the exterior of a biological cell. With respect to the exterior of the cell, typical values of membrane potential range from –40 mV to –80 mV
 * Water potential, the potential energy of water per unit volume relative to pure water in reference conditions

Linguistics

 * Potential mood

Popular culture

 * "Potential" (Buffy the Vampire Slayer), an episode of a television series
 * Potential and new Slayers, characters in Buffy the Vampire Slayer
 * Potential (song), a song by Danielle Bradbery on her album, I Don't Believe We've Met

Philosophy and society

 * Potentiality and actuality, a "possibility" that a thing can be said to have
 * Human Potential Movement, a social movement which asserts that all people have extraordinary untapped potential capacities