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ElectricityWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

isverystrong,secondonlyinstrengthtothestronginteraction,[25]butunlikethatforceitoperatesoverall
distances.[26]Incomparisonwiththemuchweakergravitationalforce,theelectromagneticforcepushing
twoelectronsapartis1042timesthatofthegravitationalattractionpullingthemtogether.[27]
Studyhasshownthattheoriginofchargeisfromcertaintypesofsubatomicparticleswhichhavethe
propertyofelectriccharge.Electricchargegivesrisetoandinteractswiththeelectromagneticforce,oneof
thefourfundamentalforcesofnature.Themostfamiliarcarriersofelectricalchargearetheelectronand
proton.Experimenthasshownchargetobeaconservedquantity,thatis,thenetchargewithinanisolated
systemwillalwaysremainconstantregardlessofanychangestakingplacewithinthatsystem.[28]Within
thesystem,chargemaybetransferredbetweenbodies,eitherbydirectcontact,orbypassingalonga
conductingmaterial,suchasawire.[24]:25Theinformaltermstaticelectricityreferstothenetpresence(or
'imbalance')ofchargeonabody,usuallycausedwhendissimilarmaterialsarerubbedtogether,transferring
chargefromonetotheother.
Thechargeonelectronsandprotonsisoppositeinsign,henceanamountofchargemaybeexpressedas
beingeithernegativeorpositive.Byconvention,thechargecarriedbyelectronsisdeemednegative,and
thatbyprotonspositive,acustomthatoriginatedwiththeworkofBenjaminFranklin.[29]Theamountof
chargeisusuallygiventhesymbolQandexpressedincoulombs[30]eachelectroncarriesthesamecharge
ofapproximately1.60221019coulomb.Theprotonhasachargethatisequalandopposite,andthus
+1.60221019coulomb.Chargeispossessednotjustbymatter,butalsobyantimatter,eachantiparticle
bearinganequalandoppositechargetoitscorrespondingparticle.[31]
Chargecanbemeasuredbyanumberofmeans,anearlyinstrumentbeingthegoldleafelectroscope,which
althoughstillinuseforclassroomdemonstrations,hasbeensupersededbytheelectronic
electrometer.[24]:25

Electriccurrent
Themovementofelectricchargeisknownasanelectriccurrent,theintensityofwhichisusuallymeasured
inamperes.Currentcanconsistofanymovingchargedparticlesmostcommonlytheseareelectrons,but
anychargeinmotionconstitutesacurrent.
Byhistoricalconvention,apositivecurrentisdefinedashavingthesamedirectionofflowasanypositive
chargeitcontains,ortoflowfromthemostpositivepartofacircuittothemostnegativepart.Current
definedinthismanneriscalledconventionalcurrent.Themotionofnegativelychargedelectronsaroundan
electriccircuit,oneofthemostfamiliarformsofcurrent,isthusdeemedpositiveintheoppositedirection
tothatoftheelectrons.[32]However,dependingontheconditions,anelectriccurrentcanconsistofaflow
ofchargedparticlesineitherdirection,oreveninbothdirectionsatonce.Thepositivetonegative
conventioniswidelyusedtosimplifythissituation.
Theprocessbywhichelectriccurrentpassesthroughamaterialistermedelectricalconduction,andits
naturevarieswiththatofthechargedparticlesandthematerialthroughwhichtheyaretravelling.Examples
ofelectriccurrentsincludemetallicconduction,whereelectronsflowthroughaconductorsuchasmetal,
andelectrolysis,whereions(chargedatoms)flowthroughliquids,orthroughplasmassuchaselectrical
sparks.Whiletheparticlesthemselvescanmovequiteslowly,sometimeswithanaveragedriftvelocity
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