FHSST Physics/Electricity/Flow of Charge

Flow of Charge

While the normal motion of "free" electrons in a conductor is random, with no particular direction or speed, electrons can be influenced to move in a coordinated fashion through a conductive material. This motion of electrons is what we call electricity, or electric current. This is in contrast to static electricity, which is an unmoving accumulation of electric charge. Just like water flowing through the emptiness of a pipe, electrons are able to move between the atoms of a conductor. The conductor may appear to be solid to our eyes, but any material composed of atoms is mostly empty space! The liquid-flow analogy is so fitting that the motion of electrons through a conductor is often referred to as a "flow."

As each electron moves uniformly through a conductor, it pushes on the one ahead of it, such that all the electrons move together as a group. The starting and stopping of electron flow through the length of a conductor is virtually instantaneous from one end of a conductor to the other, even though the motion of each electron may be very slow. As an analogy consider a tube filled end-to-end with marbles:

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The tube is full of marbles, just as a conductor is full of free electrons. If a single marble is suddenly inserted into this full tube on the left-hand side, another marble will immediately try to exit the tube on the right. Even though each marble only traveled a short distance, the transfer of motion through the tube is virtually instantaneous from the left end to the right end, no matter how long the tube is. With electricity, the overall effect from one end of a conductor to the other effectively instantaneous. Each individual electron, though, travels through the conductor at a much slower pace.

If we want electrons to flow in a certain direction to a certain place, we must provide the proper path for them to move, just as a plumber must install piping to get water to flow where he or she wants it to flow. Wires made of highly conductive metals such as copper or aluminum are used to form this path.

This means that there can be electric current only where there exists a continuous path of conductive material (wire) providing a path for electrons. In the marble analogy, marbles can flow into the left-hand side of the tube (and, consequently, through the tube) only if the tube is open on the right-hand side for marbles to flow out. If the tube is blocked on the right-hand side, the marbles will just "pile up" inside the tube, and marble "flow" will not occur. The same holds true for electric current: the continuous flow of electrons requires there be an unbroken path. Let's look at a diagram to illustrate how this works:

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A thin, solid line (as shown above) is the conventional symbol for a continuous piece of wire. Since the wire is made of a conductive material, such as copper, its constituent atoms have many free electrons which can easily move through the wire. However, there will never be a continuous or uniform flow of electrons within this wire unless they have a place to come from and a place to go. Let's add an hypothetical electron "Source" and "Destination:"

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Now, with the Electron Source pushing new electrons into the wire on the left-hand side, electron flow through the wire can occur (as indicated by the arrows pointing from left to right). However, the flow will be interrupted if the conductive path formed by the wire is broken:

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Air is an insulator, and an air gap separates the two pieces of wire, the path has now been broken, and electrons cannot flow from Source to Destination. This is like cutting a water pipe in two and capping off the broken ends of the pipe: water can't flow if there's no exit out of the pipe.

If we were to take another piece of wire leading to the Destination and simply make physical contact with the wire leading to the Source, we would once again have a continuous path for electrons to flow. The two dots in the diagram indicate physical (metal-to-metal) contact between the wire pieces:

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Now, we have continuity from the Source, to the newly-made connection, down, to the right, and up to the Destination. Please take note that the broken segment of wire on the right hand side has no electrons flowing through it, because it is no longer part of a complete path from Source to Destination.

It is interesting to note that no "wear" occurs within wires due to this electric current, unlike water-carrying pipes which are eventually corroded and worn by prolonged flows. Electrons do encounter some degree of friction as they move and this friction can generate heat in a conductor. This is a topic we'll discuss later.