= Contact potential difference
{title2=$V_c$}
A <contact potential difference> is an electrostatic <electric potential difference> associated with different conducting surfaces brought into electrical equilibrium. Surface condition and different <work functions> can create a <vacuum> gap field even when an external <voltmeter> reads zero. Connecting the metals establishes equilibrium of their electronic <chemical potentials> including electrostatic <energy>; it need not equalize the electrostatic <electric potential> in the gap.
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