Conventional current flow is the standard that almost all of the world follows to solve a circuit problem. So we have to deal with imaginary charges otherwise we can't teach current flow in liquids and gases properly. It just says that if real positive charges are flowing then that's great. This is wrong. They were wrong! All descriptions of electronic circuits use conventional current, so if you see an arrow depicting current flow in a circuit diagram, you know it is showing the direction of conventional current … Conventional current has no opinion. It's also confusing for the negative terminal of a battery to be 'higher' than the positive. Potential is not defined like this and we are teaching something that is wrong, where the correct version is understandable. We occasionally receive rather indignant e-mails saying that we don't know what we're talking about because "don't you know that electrons are negative?!". So how do you show current flow in a circuit diagram? Conventional current is the flow of a positive charge from positive to negative and is the reverse of real electron flow. A common one is that conventional current is a result of a real excess of positive charge, rather like the holes in a p-type semiconductor. Moving from positive to negative involves a release of energy. If we think about negative things then they roll 'up hill', which we know can't be right. Conventional current and electron current Identification. Here are some of the reasons why Furry Elephant uses conventional current rather than electron flow. If we use electron flow then energy cannot be dealt with in a consistent way. If we have to develop this 'replace with imaginary charges' concept we might as well replace the right ones. The only way it can work is that the real negatives flowing in one direction are replaced with imaginary positives flowing in the other. The positive terminal of a battery is at a higher potential than the negative terminal. Much later, experimenters discovered electrons and determined that they flow from a negative terminal to a positive terminal. Displaying Electrical Signals on an Oscilloscope. You’re more likely to encounter milliamps (mA) in circuits you build at home. That original convention is still around today — so the standard is to depict the direction of electric current in diagrams with an arrow that points opposite the direction of actual electron flow. We have to define current as flowing only in one direction in liquids not in both directions. But we can only consider positive things rolling down this hill. Conventional current is the flow of a positive charge from positive to negative and is the reverse of real electron flow. By using conventional current all the time we always make sure that energy is dealt with in a consistent way. In electronics, the symbol I represents conventional current, measured in amperes (or amps, abbreviated A). We say that the negative terminal of the battery is at a higher voltage. Furry Elephant aims to support non-specialists who teach physics. Cathleen Shamieh is an electrical engineer and a technical writer with extensive engineering and consulting experience in the fields of medical electronics, speech processing, and telecommunications. This means we have 'two halves make a whole', rather than 'two halves cancel out'. The answer is that it doesn’t matter. A milliamp is one one-thousandth of an amp. Conventional current doesn't say that positives or negatives are really moving.

defined in terms of the movement of positive charge. Electron Flow is what actually happens and electrons flow out of the negative terminal, through the circuit and into the positive terminal of the source. Early experimenters believed that electric current was the flow of positive charges, so they described electric current as the flow of a positive charge from a positive terminal to a negative terminal. We still only have one lot of current because each ion only makes 'half' a journey. Even among those who understand that there is an issue between electron flow and conventional current there are misunderstandings. This was the convention chosen during the discovery of electricity. If we want to use electron flow, we have two choices: i. Consider Circuit diagram with voltage source as battery and the resistance R is connected with a voltage source. All descriptions of electronic circuits use conventional current, so if you see an arrow depicting current flow in a circuit diagram, you know it is showing the direction of conventional current flow. Conventional current says 'whatever's really happening in a circuit, we'll pretend it's positive charges moving in the sense positive to negative'. Conventional current is confusing but it doesn't try and tell us what is 'really' happening in circuits.

Conventional current doesn't say that positives or negatives are really moving. If the value of I is negative, that just means that the (conventional) current is flowing in the direction opposite to the way the arrow is pointing. We say that the positive terminal of the battery is at a higher voltage. Transfers of electrical energy involve the movement of charge from high potential energy (voltage) to low potential energy (voltage). Conventional Current assumes that current flows out of the positive terminal, through the circuit and into the negative terminal of the source. Our experience is that many non-specialists have problems with the idea of conventional current. I know it's irritating but that's the way it's defined. The value of I fluctuates up and down as the current alternates. In order to understand the idea of current flow in liquids we have to imagine that real negative charges flowing in one direction can be replaced by imaginary positive charges flowing in the other (or vice-versa). In AC circuits, current is constantly reversing direction. The reason why electricity is important is that it helps us do lots of jobs. Conventional current is confusing but it doesn't try and tell us what is 'really' happening in circuits. ii. If it's really negatives that are flowing we simply replace them with imaginary positives flowing in the opposite direction. We hope that our explanation of conventional current helps non-specialists with their own understanding of this confusing area of physics.

This is true. Conventional current flows one way; electrons flow the other way. It just says that if real positive charges are flowing then that's great. You arbitrarily choose a direction for the current flow (known as the reference direction), and you label that current I. Electrical potential energy is defined in terms of the movement of positive charge. The environmental impact of electricity is to do with the way this energy is converted from other forms. (If it flowed equally in both directions then it would add up to zero and current would not be conserved around a circuit). Which way should the arrow point?

Some forms of conduction (for example in liquids) involve the flow of positive charges in one direction and negative charges in the other.

This means if electrons are flowing from left to right we'll just imagine replacing them with positives moving in the other direction.

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