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Charge flows on the same medium as energy. There's current on the equation of electrical power for a reason. That bullshit model about electricity flowing arou
by marcosdumay 2y ago
Charge flows on the same medium as energy. There's current on the equation of electrical power for a reason.
That bullshit model about electricity flowing around the wires is good for generating Youtube engagement, but it doesn't represent the actual physics, makes things impossible to calculate, doesn't lead to any intuitive understanding, and makes things impossible to learn. Or, in other words, the model is bullshit.
DC current flows entirely in the wires (up to at least "parts per billion" precision), as does energy, because energy flows at the same place current flows. AC current leaks. Everybody knows that, how it leaks is well known, and there are plenty of resources to calculate almost everything around it.
- jmb99 2y agoExactly. If energy flowed around the wires and resistance was “the portion of the energy that accidentally entered the wire” then larger wires would have larger resistance (due to a higher chance of “stray energy entering the wire”) than smaller wires, which is clearly incorrect. It really is a terrible model in almost every way.
- Tor3 2y agoWhen I was young and had just finished my EE training I ran into a guy working with electrical systems in cars.. he claimed that wires are resistance (true enough), but also that the thicker the wire, the more resistance.. so when he wired up cars (for stereo or extra lights etc) he would use as thin wires as possible in order to reduce the resistance. I didn't even bother asking why he hadn't thought of just removing the wire altogether.