Which way does Current Flow | AO #19

It was explained to me a bit differently. Yes they thought electricity moved from positive to negative (positive meaning more, negative meaning less), then they discovered that it's actually the electrons (negative charge) moved to the positive. But because so many things were built using this labeling convention they just left it that way... In other words the positive terminal is actually where the electrons reside.

Awesome video

Dear Mr. AddOhms, One thing puzzles me about the neg. to pos. theory.
In electroplating, the anode (wired to pos.) or bar of nickel for example travels to the cathode (neg.) part being nickel plated.
You can see it happening. What do you think about that? Thank you

thanks man!

This is like religion, people can't agree which way elections flow

My arduino brought me to this ? i have a small project on lightning my LED i put the cathode - in the GND and the anode + in pin 13 and it lights up ? So based on these video electrons flow from the GND to Pin 13 since it wont light up if put in on reverse .

If there's the possibility that positive charges flow, why doesn't that happen? Why is it the electrons that move?

Moving electrons are not the main conduit of electric charge, electricity. It is the interactions of the electric charges of the electrons that move. Electrons do move, but very slowly, and their movement is inconsequential to the conduction of electricity. It similar to how the middle balls in a Newton's Cradle do not move much when passing the momentum of a striking ball through them.

With that said, the only time electrons are prone to moving in an electric circuit is within semiconductors.

Also, within semiconductors, positive "particles," atoms, also do not move--they are fixed in the crystalline structure of the semiconductor. It is the electrons that move between atoms of the semiconductor that are missing an electron, so-called positive "holes." The holes only appear to move as electrons in the semiconductor migrate from hole to hole.

Thanks for making that clear, because I have 12 different electronics books that use “electron current flow” (neg to pos). There are a lot of great videos coming out that use “conventional positive flow”,so it irritated me at first, especially when they taught it one way at the microscopic level and then taught it the other way at the transistor level when I knew it wasn’t right. I forced myself to see it from the another’s perspective and am glad I did, because both theory’s are very important to learn & understand. They have answered deeper questions about science.

The direction of current flow is important in a DC electric motor because it establishes the direction of torque applied to the motors rotor .

It's like, could they make it anymore confusing if they tried?

Kindavreminds me of traditional musical notation and how the notes on the treble clef and bass clef don't line up. It's like they made it more confusing than it had to be on purpose.

I learned electron flow, and I tried SO HARD to force that into my head that my brain fights against conventional current!😄 I didn't realize everything would be conventional current, but I guess it's implied in the name

Whomever has a doubt,Take diode( conducts only in one direction) connect it from led with resistor,check the direction,..it's gonna be from positive to negative

Which tool you are using for circuit simulations.

You almost seem to be teaching here that protons can move and that is definitely not true. That's why I said 'seem' because I'm certain you know they can't move (in an electrical circuit). I think the only significant thing that makes electricity and electronics work is the fact that electrons move from negative to positive. It is quite true that the empty 'slots' left by a dislodged electron move from positive to negative. Absolutely. But those are just empty 'slots' which become vacant opposite the direction of electron movement and it's because of a power source forcing electrons into the circuit that those empty 'slots' occur in the first place. Normally in nature an atom will try to balance itself out with the correct number of electrons. In short, these empty slots where electrons were forced out are not moving particles. They are progressively transferred voids, like a string of lights where one light is off and that 'off' light seems to move around and around the loop with the rest of the lights being on. The fact that protons cannot move in a circuit and that only electrons can move in a circuit should give people their grounding into electricity and electronics because they can get very confused by the concept of conventional current if they are stressed together in the beginning. There is probably usefulness in discussing conventional current later, though I have not gotten to the point where I cannot do without it yet. Possibly later on with semiconductors? Discussing how current can flow from positive to negative wasn't useful in the beginning when I was learning electronics decades ago, as the near-exclusive main focus was on electron current. Conventional current was kind of sidelined and had to be redefined ever since the directional error was discovered by JJ Thomson in 1897. If memory serves I recall seeing most schematics mainly focused on showing the direction of electron flow (negative to positive).

The key in this whole discussion is what causes electricity to be created in the first place. The electrons can easily be dislodged and forced to move in one basic direction (they actually zig zag) toward the positive terminal of the power source where there are many cations (positively charged atoms) awaiting their missing electrons. The protons always stay put. For all intents and purposes they are far heavier than electrons and they never move. Therefore being able to appreciate current flowing from positive to negative is only possible because of moving electrons from negative to positive. To me that is far more significant in this study, especially in the beginning.

Ben Franklin guessed wrong but the industry continues with convention just the typewriter standard.

In my day, techs were taught electron flow and engineers conventional flow.

Excellent presentation! Though this is only theory because no one actually knows which way the electrons are flowing, Even the electrons are being labeled as a negative charge when not one has actually provided a repeatable experiment that proves without a doubt that electrons are negatively charged.. 100 year old theories without evidence, you might as well take a guess because there is something really wrong with these old theories.

Oh thanks Mr now I understand everything that you explain.

Great job. I wish I'd had this video 25 years ago when I was learning on my own.

I can guarantee you that Benjamin Franklin would not want the world to deliberately utilise the wrong analogy. This is exactly the opposite of the principles that he believed in.

Assigning positive and negative may have been key to the shocking confusion of the well grounded flying a kite but eventually added negativity to electrons with an explanation for positive left right full of holes.

Question: if electron flow is the other way around to the standard convention, how does a resistor AHEAD of a Diode work?

The protons can move toward the negative terminal?

But if i have a 2v led with a 5 volt power supply which side of led do i put the resistor?

When you are charging a battery the current flow from positive>negative.
When you are discharging a battery the current flow from negative>positive.

Understanding the current flow will matter if you place a diode in that circuit....negative to positive is the correct path..

According to electron flow... Electrons flow from negative to positive. So as the electrons move from one atom of the conductor to other..the atom becomes positively charged....just think it that way....😁

Who was the diplomat that published "conventional flow"? The flow it describes is "Wrong" PERIOD!

Great explanation!

Lol protons don't move so it's electrons that carry the negative charge

So what happens when you fit a diode then? I guess it means some peoples diagrams work and others don't. Surely just adding a diode would be the answer to which way diagrams need to be drawn and 1 way works and the other does not?

Please do video on negative voltage

now i see. so we can say electrons have a positive charge and protons have a negative charge because positive and negative are just words and they dont matter because they are human ideas or names given to describe the charge of a particle which doesnt change fundamentally. isnt that a twisted idea... but we can all agree that an electron has negative- charge and travels towards positive+ right??? but since an electron is the energy input shouldnt that mean that it is positive?

Just a question. Does a battery charge from positive to negative because if current is drawn from the source in reality negative to positive wouldn't you be better off analyzing the charging circuit as electron flow instead of having to change arrows when finished analyzing current or charge flow?

Would it matter for trying to determine the direction of the magnetic fields around the wire for Lorentz law? You're supposed to point your right thumb in the direction of the current and the direction your fingers curl tell you the direction of the magnetic fields? If you are using your right thumb, does this work for both conventional and electron flow? Or do you have to switch thumbs between the two or something? Thanks

Charge flows not current.

You have no idea of the fun I had back in the "60's" with technical engineers from the various military suppliers swapping in mid stream circuit analysis [kirchhoff] and using "Current flow" as the common denominator. I guess some of us are easily amused!!!!! Thanks for your simplistic coverage for us old slow thinkers. Back then I never imagined sneezing and blowing my replacement parts away... Keep up the good work component repair is slipping away.

Okay I can see how people are going to say this two different ways to do this. All I want to figure out is which way to put a fuse on 1st. Should I install it from the positive terminal or the negative terminal first so it comes out of negative and passes the fuse or if it comes out a positive in passing the fuse. So it does not come out of negative and go through the load then go through the fuse so that protects it. That's what I'm trying to figure out. I am going to put the fuse before the load but I want to figure out if I should put it on the negative or positive terminal

"As long as you use the same flow-direction for the entire circuit, it doesn't matter which you use." The problem with this statement is that there are many 'you-s'. Some use + to - and others the reverse. In the effort to understand electricity, this fundamental concept of current flow direction is critical to the understanding the true electromagnetic forces involved. It is not the matter that it does not matter, it is the matter of truth and understanding. Truth is the light, embrace it!

Yes. I think I have heard of him.

You satisfied me

Okay... Then explain diodes and transistors with electron flow? Messes the whole show up... Magnetic field fluctuation?

Nice

Very, very well explained, thanks AddOhms. We just subscribed & love someone who can have a little joke on themselves & add a bit of humour to the mix.

Thanks sir for explanation

How if I say that electricity flow from both directions at the same time with different charge? I came with this opinion when I saw that some wire starts to heats up at middle of it.

Sorry for poor English.

Bien!