3 ms·
It didn't matter in Franklin's time, but it came to matter later, due to the discovery or invention of devices in which it matters which charge carrier is movin
by kazinator 2y ago
It didn't matter in Franklin's time, but it came to matter later, due to the discovery or invention of devices in which it matters which charge carrier is moving.
For example, in naming the parts of a NPN bipolar junction transistor, the negatively connected terminal is the "emitter", and the positive one the "collector". The base-emitter diode arrow points toward the emitter.
- coldtea 2y agoSo? That things "normally" should move positive to negative or vice versa is also a convention.
- marshray 2y agoIt helps me visually when looking at a circuit diagram if I can think about the current flowing "down", like most rivers do in the Northern Hemisphere. It's just a vague association in my mind, but it is based in physical reality.
- jrvieira 2y agowhat do you mean by most rivers flowing down in the northern hemisphere?
- kazinator 2y agoThat convention is the result of identifying current flow as being the movement of that which we identified as positive charge. It's not a convention that like charges repel. If we agree that current is the flow of positive charge, then it has to go away from positive, toward negative. Using positive quantities for current and charge is a good thing; we aren't constantly dealing with negative numbers to measure common situations like how much current is flowing through a wire.