Potential gradient

Potential gradient is like a hill. If you are standing on the top of the hill, you will have a lot of potential energy, just like if you pull an elastic band back and let it go, the energy that it moves with is potential energy. If you start to walk down the hill, the potential energy will begin to turn into kinetic energy (the energy of movement). The potential gradient measures how steep the hill is and how quickly the potential energy is turning into kinetic energy.