High Quality Content by WIKIPEDIA articles! Electric potential energy is a potential energy associated with the conservative Coulomb forces within a defined system of point charges. The term "electrostatic potential energy" is preferred here because it seems less likely to be misunderstood. The reference zero is usually taken to be a state in which the individual point charges are very well separated ("are at infinite separation") and are at rest. The electrostatic potential energy of the system (UE), relative to this zero, is equal to the total work W that must be done by a hypothetical external agent in order to bring the charges slowly, one by one, from infinite separation to the desired system configuration, In this process the external agent is deemed to provide or absorb any relevant work, and the point charge being slowly moved gains no kinetic energy.Sometimes people refer to the potential energy of a charge in an electrostatic field. This actually refers to the potentialenergy of the system containing the charge and the other charges that created the electrostatic fie