All Questions
Tagged with conductors electricity
160
questions
68
votes
9
answers
89k
views
Does electricity flow on the surface of a wire or in the interior?
I was having a conversation with my father and father-in-law, both of whom are in electric related work, and we came to a point where none of us knew how to proceed. I was under the impression that ...
- 783
60
votes
6
answers
46k
views
If water is not a good conductor, why are we advised to avoid water near electricity (no wet hands near circuits etc.)?
How can water be a medium to conduct current while its ionisation is so negligible that, in principle, no current should flow?
- 737
45
votes
5
answers
61k
views
Speed of light vs speed of electricity
If I arranged an experiment where light raced electricity what would be the results? Let's say a red laser is fired at the same time a switch is closed that applies 110 volts to a 12 gauge loop of ...
- 4,711
29
votes
5
answers
29k
views
Why is there an electric field in a wire even though it is a conductor?
If you take a perfect conductor, there cannot be a field across it since if there were, the particles would arrange themselves in a way to cancel out the field right?
Yet, why does the same not hold ...
- 1,585
27
votes
6
answers
14k
views
Why do metals have free electrons?
Throughout my highschool classes, I have been made to learn that metals have free electrons that's why they are able to conduct electricity.. But I never understood why. Is that related to metallic ...
- 468
18
votes
5
answers
12k
views
How does a wire carry alternating current?
Consider a simple network of a bulb whose two terminals are connected to two wires with open ends A and B respectively
A o--------💡--------o B
Now if a DC ...
- 510
15
votes
3
answers
7k
views
Tree vs lightning rod: why does one burn and the other not?
I have this simple question, but I cannot find the answer.
I saw this video about a plane getting hit by lightning. In it, Captain Joe explains why people do not get electrocuted. This has a simple ...
- 314
12
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Where do all these electrons come from? [duplicate]
I'm a high school student and I'm fairly familiar with basic electronics, but I've always wondered one thing.
So how generators make electricity from motion is the move a magnet around or through a ...
- 919
11
votes
4
answers
17k
views
Is a signal traveling through fiber faster than a signal traveling through copper?
Does the transmission medium affect the speed of a signal? For instance does light traveling through a fiber cable get a bit from $A \implies B$ faster than copper can transmit a bit the over the same ...
- 211
11
votes
9
answers
91k
views
Why is the charge transferred by electrons and not by protons?
Charges are transferred by electrons which we all know. But why can't it be transferred by protons? Well, I searched on Google where I found similar questions already being asked on many sites. ...
- 2,565
11
votes
2
answers
10k
views
Why don't get I shocked in an electric shower if the resistance makes contact with water?
I've found this image that perfectly illustrates my shower. I've read somewhere that the resistance is insulated so even if it touches the water, it doesn't conduct. However, as you can see, the ...
- 253
8
votes
9
answers
6k
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Why does electricity need wires to flow?
If you drop a really heavy ball the ball's gravitational potential energy will turn into kinetic energy.
If you place the same ball in the pool, the ball will still fall. A lot of kinetic energy will ...
- 2,009
7
votes
5
answers
1k
views
Hollow conductor containing charge: why is internal field cancelled outside and why are the field oustide the cavity zero inside the cavity?
I've a doubt on the following situation. Consider a hollow conductor $A$ (of arbitrary shape) containing another conductor $B$ (again of arbitrary shape), with a positive charge $+q$.
By the ...
- 2,617
6
votes
1
answer
9k
views
Why isn't ice a good electrical conductor?
Water can conduct electricity, and some solids can conduct. Why can't ice? Are ice molecules too packed together to let valence shell electrons bounce across each other to create electrical charge? ...
- 223
6
votes
2
answers
30k
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How to know what materials are good conductors of electricity?
I'm not asking a question like "Is the wood conductive?". No. I'm asking what properties do they have to have to be good conductors. Theoretically I mean.
- 1,533