Connecting...

For more information, please see full course syllabus of AP Physics C/Electricity and Magnetism
AP Physics C/Electricity and Magnetism Electric Current
A solid conductive metal contains mobile, or free, electrons. These electrons are bound to the metal lattice but not to any individual atom. Even with no external electric field applied, these electrons move about randomly due to thermal energy but, on average, there is zero net current within the metal. Given a plane through which the wire passes, the number of electrons moving from one side to the other in any period of time is on average equal to the number passing in the opposite direction. As George Gamow put in his science popularizing book, One, Two, Three...Infinity (1947), 'The metallic substances differ from all other materials by the fact that the outer shells of their atoms are bound rather loosely, and often let one of their electrons go free. Thus the interior of a metal is filled up with a large number of unattached electrons that travel aimlessly around like a crowd of displaced persons. When a metal wire is subjected to electric force applied on its opposite ends, these free electrons rush in the direction of the force, thus forming what we call an electric current.'
Share this knowledge with your friends!
Copy & Paste this embed code into your website’s HTML
Please ensure that your website editor is in text mode when you paste the code.(In Wordpress, the mode button is on the top right corner.)
- - Allow users to view the embedded video in full-size.
1 answer
Last reply by: Mohammed Alhumaidi
Sun Dec 7, 2014 7:17 PM
Post by nacer bencherkoun on July 28, 2013
Hello simple question that get me stuck to advance please :
So you say there is an electric potential in a battery between + and -
which means if have 2 batteries and i connect 1 wire to + in the first one and another wire to the - in the other battery and i connect a led in the wire.at least it should light once ? the battery are not connected in serie but since we have an excess of electron in one part and the opposite in the other part it should work no ?
I tried it and it doesn't work can you explain ?