WHEN A PROTON TRAVELS THROGH AN ELECTRIC FIELD DOES IT TRAVEL THROUGH A HIGHER OR LOWER POTENTIAL ENERGY….?
Whenever a proton travels in a uniform electric field, it moves from a point of higher electric potential to a point of lower electric potential. And electric potential simply means : Potential energy per unit charge. But we can cause the proton to move in the opposite direction if some force acts on it opposite to the electric field.
It really depends on the nature of the field and its direction. Fxample, if the proton is moving against the direction of an uniform electric field, its potential energy is increasing (at the expense of decreasing kinetic enegy). If the proton is moving along an uniform electric field, then it potential energy is decreasing and its kinetic energy is decreasing. For some other fields, you will have to analize it to determine what the potential energy is doing. For example, if the field is radially symmetric and the proton is moving in a circular trayectory, there is no change in the potential energy.
