convention with no basis in fact. The convention is maintained
to preserve the useful rules and practices which have evolved
over time. (Similar to the maintenance of feet and inches
over meters and centimeters)
From the Wikipedia:
"A flow of positive charges gives the same electric current, and has the same effect in a circuit, as an equal flow of negative charges in the opposite direction. Since current can be the flow of either positive or negative charges, or both, a convention for the direction of current which is independent of the type of charge carriers is needed. The direction of conventional current is arbitrarily defined to be the same as the direction of the flow of positive charges.
In metals, which make up the wires and other conductors in most electrical circuits, the positive charges are immobile, and the charge carriers are electrons. Because the electrons carry negative charge, their motion in a metal conductor is in the direction opposite to that of conventional current."
http://en.Wikipedia.org/wiki/Electric_cu...
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electric current is due to moving of electrons....electron has negative charge so comes out from negative terminal of battery and comes in to positive terminal....
Simply. If you look at the wire of the circuit being a single string of Atoms, as opposed to a Mass of Atoms, it may be easier to understand.
Electron flow in a circuit is from -ve to +ve.
Electrons in the circuit near to the +ve terminal are attracted to it.
This leaves what is known as a "hole" in the atomic structure, which means the atom has a net +ve charge.
This net +ve charge attracts the electron in the next atom, to fill the "hole", but the next atom is then left with a "hole" which has to be filled by an electron from the next atom, which again leaves a "hole" and so on until we get to the atom at the -ve terminal which ends up with the "hole".
This is then filled by an electron from the -ve terminal.
So "Holes" can be considered as conventional current, or +ve charges from +ve to -ve, with electrons flowing -ve to +ve.
current theory(positive to negative) as opposed to electron theory(negative to positive) facilitates the easier use of math because there are less negative numbers involved in the equations, but basically electrons flow from negative to positive.
We know that once a electrical potential is created like a dry cell..
The electrons flow from negative terminal to positive terminal isn't it?
But it is written that the direction of flow of charge is from positive terminal to negative terminal??
Give me a brief explanation.
