If any Moderator thinks this might stir up to much controversy please remove it and I will
understand and have no hard feelings. This is just my personnel opinion. Thanks
What is Voltage and what is current and what are the differences.
I am not posting this to mislead any ones beliefs and if it does, Please let me apologize in advance.
I'm not an Engineer nor instructor so please take these statements with a grain of salt but please read
and think about them.
Theories of the direction of the flow of electrical current.
In the study of Electricity I like to use the analogy of water flowing through pipes from the source in this case the pump to the load, water wheel Etc, to do our work then collected and sent back to the pump again in a continuous cycle. And if AC it alternates.
Below are the 2 most popular beliefs of the direction of current flow.
(1)-Electron Flow Positive or + Pulls and Negative or – Pushes.
(2)-Conventional Flow Negative or -Pulls and Positive or + Pushes.
Either direction works with most active circuit elements as long as you stay consistent through your circuit when studying the Effects it has on your loads and voltage sources on one another.
I like to apply the Electron flow when studying the direction of flow of a current in a wire simply because of the theory behind the fleming valve invented by Ambrose Fleming which became known as the Electron vacuum tube. In this theory the electrons flow from the cathode to the anode or from the filament to the plate. It would be hard to imagine that they flow from the anode or plate to the cathode or filament since we use the term the filament boils the electrons off and are pulled to the plate by a B+ voltage or a positive voltage. The Fleming valve implies that the positive or the + terminal of a electrical voltage source pulls and the Negative pushes.
Theories of how the current flows.
On this subject almost no one agrees you hear everything from AC doesn't flow continuously
through the circuit reverses and back again. It flow just a little bit maybe a thousandths of an inch to a meter or so and the back ,or just wiggles around a bit.
As far as that goes DC might flow in both directions, in one direction it produces work which we can see use and measure and in the other direction it does not produce any work that we can use or measure with the instrument we now have.
No one knows the answers to these questions yet.
But until we do why not use the water flow analogy it works almost perfect when we apply the electrical formulas we have.
What is voltage and what is current.
First I have always had a problem with the way text books and folks in the Electrical field refer
to voltage as a physical thing that flows through conductors or wires.
The definition of voltage is the force behind an electrical current or the potential between the
two points of an Electrical source. It is an expression or an entity that pushes the current through
the conductors or wires. According to that definition it is not a physical thing that flows through the wires with the current.
Like a water pump that pumps the water, the water pump itself does not flow through the water pipe the water flows through the pipe and the pump forces it through by putting more water behind the water with a mechanical force.
Effect of Inductive kickback or Power factor and capacitance on the Electrical current flow through conductors.
When you study Electrical current flow you hear the statements about the current lagging behind or leading the voltage because of the effect of Induction and capacitance. Am I the only one that has a problem with this?
I don't think the original author was insinuating this but when I read this I see a separate physical thing as the voltage which flows right along with the current, when in fact he meant the pressure or force of the voltage source.
The definition of voltage is the force or potential difference between the poles of a voltage source.
How can the voltage lead or lag if it is just the force that the source produces? It is a entity not nothing physical thing running through the conductors.
When you watch a sine wave on a dual trace scope and and put a inductor in series with your load you will see another sine wave behind the original one.
Belief is this is the current lagging behind the voltage. But isn't it really another current generated by the original current lagging behind the original first one produced? Like the water pump forcing more water into pipe, this would be the battery or generator forcing more electrons into the wire thereby pushing the other electron farther through the wire. You could call this apparent voltage I guess:roll:
Remember voltage is merely the force driving the current through the wire not something traveling around the circuit with it.
And I think the same theory could be applied to Capacitance.
I'm sure you all will straighten me on these beliefs.
Thanks for reading
Please give me your thoughts on this. :Ronald
understand and have no hard feelings. This is just my personnel opinion. Thanks
What is Voltage and what is current and what are the differences.
I am not posting this to mislead any ones beliefs and if it does, Please let me apologize in advance.
I'm not an Engineer nor instructor so please take these statements with a grain of salt but please read
and think about them.
Theories of the direction of the flow of electrical current.
In the study of Electricity I like to use the analogy of water flowing through pipes from the source in this case the pump to the load, water wheel Etc, to do our work then collected and sent back to the pump again in a continuous cycle. And if AC it alternates.
Below are the 2 most popular beliefs of the direction of current flow.
(1)-Electron Flow Positive or + Pulls and Negative or – Pushes.
(2)-Conventional Flow Negative or -Pulls and Positive or + Pushes.
Either direction works with most active circuit elements as long as you stay consistent through your circuit when studying the Effects it has on your loads and voltage sources on one another.
I like to apply the Electron flow when studying the direction of flow of a current in a wire simply because of the theory behind the fleming valve invented by Ambrose Fleming which became known as the Electron vacuum tube. In this theory the electrons flow from the cathode to the anode or from the filament to the plate. It would be hard to imagine that they flow from the anode or plate to the cathode or filament since we use the term the filament boils the electrons off and are pulled to the plate by a B+ voltage or a positive voltage. The Fleming valve implies that the positive or the + terminal of a electrical voltage source pulls and the Negative pushes.
Theories of how the current flows.
On this subject almost no one agrees you hear everything from AC doesn't flow continuously
through the circuit reverses and back again. It flow just a little bit maybe a thousandths of an inch to a meter or so and the back ,or just wiggles around a bit.
As far as that goes DC might flow in both directions, in one direction it produces work which we can see use and measure and in the other direction it does not produce any work that we can use or measure with the instrument we now have.
No one knows the answers to these questions yet.
But until we do why not use the water flow analogy it works almost perfect when we apply the electrical formulas we have.
What is voltage and what is current.
First I have always had a problem with the way text books and folks in the Electrical field refer
to voltage as a physical thing that flows through conductors or wires.
The definition of voltage is the force behind an electrical current or the potential between the
two points of an Electrical source. It is an expression or an entity that pushes the current through
the conductors or wires. According to that definition it is not a physical thing that flows through the wires with the current.
Like a water pump that pumps the water, the water pump itself does not flow through the water pipe the water flows through the pipe and the pump forces it through by putting more water behind the water with a mechanical force.
Effect of Inductive kickback or Power factor and capacitance on the Electrical current flow through conductors.
When you study Electrical current flow you hear the statements about the current lagging behind or leading the voltage because of the effect of Induction and capacitance. Am I the only one that has a problem with this?
I don't think the original author was insinuating this but when I read this I see a separate physical thing as the voltage which flows right along with the current, when in fact he meant the pressure or force of the voltage source.
The definition of voltage is the force or potential difference between the poles of a voltage source.
How can the voltage lead or lag if it is just the force that the source produces? It is a entity not nothing physical thing running through the conductors.
When you watch a sine wave on a dual trace scope and and put a inductor in series with your load you will see another sine wave behind the original one.
Belief is this is the current lagging behind the voltage. But isn't it really another current generated by the original current lagging behind the original first one produced? Like the water pump forcing more water into pipe, this would be the battery or generator forcing more electrons into the wire thereby pushing the other electron farther through the wire. You could call this apparent voltage I guess:roll:
Remember voltage is merely the force driving the current through the wire not something traveling around the circuit with it.
And I think the same theory could be applied to Capacitance.
I'm sure you all will straighten me on these beliefs.
Thanks for reading
Please give me your thoughts on this. :Ronald
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