All Questions
12
questions
78
votes
11
answers
56k
views
Why is the charge naming convention wrong?
I recently came to know about the Conventional Current vs. Electron Flow issue.
Doing some search I found that the reason for this is that Benjamin Franklin made a mistake when naming positive and ...
- 1,291
8
votes
4
answers
51k
views
Is it possible to flow current in open circuit?
As I know a battery is an example of a closed circuit where it can then produce electricity , electrons will flow from negative pole to positive. A chemistry representation of this battery is for ...
- 295
16
votes
3
answers
27k
views
Where do electrons in electricity come from?
Where do the electrons come from when an electric generator is making electricity? Is from the air? Would a generator work in a vacuum? Electrons have mass so where would they be pulled from if ...
- 161
11
votes
2
answers
5k
views
Relativistic drift velocity of electrons in a superconductor?
Is there a formula for the effective speed of electron currents inside superconductors?
The formula for normal conductors is:
$$ V = \frac{I}{nAq}$$
I wonder if there are any changes to this ...
- 2,299
38
votes
8
answers
20k
views
Is electricity really the flow of electrons or is it more involved?
I am new to the physics category of the Stack Exchange site. I apologize if my question is wrong, too broad, simple, or worded incorrectly. I am just trying to figure out what is true and false when ...
- 499
8
votes
9
answers
6k
views
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
5
votes
2
answers
695
views
Why do electrons follow the conductors shape?
I'm stuck thinking about this situation. I imagine that there are two oppositely charged objects at short distance $r$, put inside an insulator (Can I say air?). They generate a net elctric field, ...
3
votes
1
answer
650
views
Is charge carrier density an intrinsic property of a material and is thus constant?
I was studying the equation $$I = nAvq$$
where $n$ = the charge carrier density, $A$ = cross-sectional area of the conductor, $v$ = mean drift velocity of the
charge carriers, and $q$ = the charge on ...
- 31
3
votes
6
answers
2k
views
Is electric current actually the flow of electrical charge?
In my high school, the definition of electrical current is "the flow of charges" but I have seen a video about how electricity actually works and it seems to me that electrical current is ...
2
votes
3
answers
36k
views
Direction of current and direction of flow of electrons
My textbook says that the flow of current is from the positive to negative and my notebook say that the flow of electrons is from negative to positive.
Why aren't they agreeing on one direction? Who ...
- 29
1
vote
1
answer
7k
views
Why is the drift velocity directly proportional to the electric field?
If I double the electric field, that should double the acceleration of electrons inside the conductor in the general direction of the electric field. But why does that double the drift velocity, and ...
- 3,075
0
votes
0
answers
93
views
How does electricity travel near the speed of light if electrons drift at a snail pace? [duplicate]
I was in a reddit argument with someone who said electrons didn't flow at the speed of light in a circuit. Then he linked the Wikipedia page for drift velocity and defeated me in one fell swoop. Now, ...
- 133