Electric Current - Implications

Electric Current











































1 Coulomb of charge per second is
a current of 1 Ampere

1C/s = 1A

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The charge which moves through a wire is balanced.

For every moving electron, there is a positively charged ion.

For every electron which goes out one end of the wire, another enters the other end.

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The average speed of electrons in a typical current-carrying wire is very low --- typically millimeters per second.

Individual electrons move much faster but in random directions.

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When a switch is opened or closed in a circuit, the potential diffeference which moves electrons through the circuit changes.

That change moves at nearly the speed of light.

Implications --- Example: --- Question: