Dear Neville, You write: > > [The actual linear velocity of the electrons within the wire is > > proportional to the current: Zero with the switch off, and limited by > > ohm's law, ie. total circuit resistance and voltage, when on.] > > As a simple example...the higher the current, the quicker the 'flow', > (forgetting ohms law for the moment)... yes?
The higher the voltage or lower the resistance, then yes, the current will be higher, which means the electrons are moving faster in the wire. Any given electron will be scooting along the wire at a higher velocity, literally calculable in some meters per second. Amperage is actually a measure of the number of charge carriers (electrons in this case) that flow past a fixed point in a unit of time. > > [As it turns out the *convention* of current flow from plus to minus was > > created before they figured out what was actually carrying the > > current, and stuck, as tradition often does.] > > OK, now we come to the better bit. Traditional thinking, (of old > perhaps), supposes that 'something moves, or travels' in a particular > fashion...up and down, left to right, right to left, over and under, > plus to minus...and so it was 'supposed' this was the case with > electricity 'moving or travelling' from positive to negative or negative > to positive... yes? Sorry, I sort of can't explain that any better.<g> > Electricity being an unknown entity if you like. I think it goes all the way back to some of the earliest experimenters with electricity, like Volta, maybe... I think he was the first to build a "battery" using acid and dissimilar metals. I think he just arbitrarily picked one pole and called it "positive" and *postulated* or assumed a "positive" current flowing from it to the negative pole... Not knowing at the time that the actual carriers were electrons flowing in the opposite direction. So, conventional "current" measures a hypothetical positive charge carrier moving from the positive terminal to the negative. In most situations, the *real* current is the flow of electrons in the opposite direction. If you break a circuit and hook the positive (red) lead of your ammeter to the side closest to the positive supply terminal and the negative lead to the other, then the current that you read on the display should be a positive number. Reverse the meter leads and you should get a minus sign in front of the same number. > [Of course, there are materials other than metals that can carry > > current, including semiconductors like they make transistors, diodes, > > and integrated circuits with, and, as in our case, water in an > > electrolysis cell.] > > Now, by this I assume you are referring to current 'travelling' from a > starting point, on one end of a circuit board as an example, and > 'travelling' along the 'circuits' to the other end of the board, > 'directional' if you like...yes? Well, on any given circuit board conductors go all over so the geometry is seldom that simple, but if you trace the flow along the conductors, through various components, from the positive supply connection to the negative, you'll be moving opposite to the flow of electrons, but *with* the "conventional" current. > > [Now, in water, you may actually have both electrons flowing *and* atoms > > or molecules of the solvent (water) or solutes (silver or salt, or > > whatever) flowing in different directions...] > > Now don't anyone freak out here but in my language this would > be...'electricity travelling' between the two electrodes, but in > combination with silver, water molecules and any impurities which may be > in the water which would be affected by the 'electricity', and these > molecules etc would be 'drifting' in the water...yes? Stay with me here > if you can, I'll get proper terminologies down better later on. Yep, that sounds about right... I think really pure distilled water won't carry much current at all, so there's very little electron flow in the fluid as there is in metals... I think what has to happen is you have to wait for the tiny fraction of water molecules that spontaneously dissociates into H+ and OH- ions under normal conditions to provide the "seed" so to speak, for more current to flow later as silver gradually gets into the water and provides more charge carriers. Only charged particles will move when you put a voltage across the cell. Uncharged particles, like molecules of sugar, for instance, are not a part of current flow. Ions only! > > Electrons will still flow from your battery's negative terminal, > > through the wire to the negative electrode, through the water to your > > positive electrode, then back through the wire to the battery positive > > terminal. > > Yes, I know what's happening there now, but now we are talking of > 'direction' again, from negative to positive. This was my suggestion > some time ago when I said I had read that 'electricity', or 'current', > is 'pushed' so to speak, out from the negative and returned through the > positive. See what I mean? Yep, the actual *things* that flow in this case are electrons that move from negative to positive through your circuit. "Conventional" current happens to be in the opposite direction of electron flow, thanks to dead white guys hundreds of years ago. <grin> > Or is it that we don't use the 'positive and negative' terminology when > water is the electrical current transfer medium...circuit boards > require 'direction' if you like whereas water just 'completes' a > circuit with no particular 'direction'. Nope, the polarity is just as important in the water, but you have to recognize that you might have different types of charge carriers: free electrons, positive ions, negative ions. Electrons and negative ions will move toward the positive terminal, and positive ions will move toward the negative terminal. Switch the wires and the stuff will all turn around and move in the opposite direction through the water. > Like my analogy of a stop valve in the clock circle, or water pipe > circle, the current is apparent when the valve is opened, but not > apparent when the valve is closed...hence, the positive and/or negative > terminology is not used in this case...yes? Be patient! Well, if you turn off the voltage by flipping a switch, for instance, there *is* no voltage applied to the rest of the circuit and no current will flow. In that sense, polarity is irrelevant. But as soon as you turn on the switch, your voltage supply is re-connected and current will flow, and follow all the normal rules for polarity and direction. Be well, Mike D. [Mike Devour, Citizen, Patriot, Libertarian] [[email protected] ] [Speaking only for myself... ] -- The Silver List is a moderated forum for discussing Colloidal Silver. Instructions for unsubscribing are posted at: http://silverlist.org To post, address your message to: [email protected] Address Off-Topic messages to: [email protected] The Silver List and Off Topic List archives are currently down... List maintainer: Mike Devour <[email protected]>
