Search results
Results from the WOW.Com Content Network
In other media, any stream of charged objects (ions, for example) may constitute an electric current. To provide a definition of current independent of the type of charge carriers, conventional current is defined as moving in the same direction as the positive charge flow. So, in metals where the charge carriers (electrons) are negative ...
Ohm's law is an empirical law, a generalization from many experiments that have shown that current is approximately proportional to electric field for most materials. It is less fundamental than Maxwell's equations and is not always obeyed.
Sparks — Electrical breakdown of a medium that produces an ongoing plasma discharge, similar to the instant spark, resulting from a current flowing through normally nonconductive media such as air. Telluric currents — Extremely low frequency electric current that occurs naturally over large underground areas at or near the surface of the Earth.
Electric charge is a characteristic property of many subatomic particles. The charges of free-standing particles are integer multiples of the elementary charge e; we say that electric charge is quantized. Michael Faraday, in his electrolysis experiments, was the first to note the discrete nature of electric charge.
The electric field was formally defined as the force exerted per unit charge, but the concept of potential allows for a more useful and equivalent definition: the electric field is the local gradient of the electric potential. Usually expressed in volts per metre, the vector direction of the field is the line of greatest slope of potential, and ...
Such experiments led to the theory of two types of electric charge, one being the negative of the other, with a simple sum respecting signs giving the total charge. The electrostatic attraction of the charged plastic pen to neutral uncharged pieces of paper (for example) is due to induced dipoles [ 36 ] : Chapter 27 in the paper.
This field causes, by electromagnetic induction, an electric current to flow in the wire loop on the right. The most widespread version of Faraday's law states: The electromotive force around a closed path is equal to the negative of the time rate of change of the magnetic flux enclosed by the path.
The experiment can also be used to illustrate the properties of static electricity, and how it can be conducted through metal wires to create an electric current. By rubbing a balloon or other object to create a static charge, and then using the charge to activate the bells, students can see the effects of static electricity and learn how it ...