In an electric circuit, the current flows from positive to negative terminal. (2024)

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In an electric circuit, the current flows from positive to negative terminal.? ›

The direction of an electric current is by convention the direction in which a positive charge would move. Thus, thecurrent in the external circuit is directed away from the positive terminal and toward the negative terminal of the battery. Electrons would actually move through the wires in the opposite direction.

The flow of electrons is termed electron current. Electrons flow from the negative terminal to the positive. Conventional current or simply current, behaves as if positive charge carriers cause current flow. Conventional current flows from the positive terminal to the negative.

The current flowing from positive terminal to negative terminal is due to flow of positive charge, which is the conventional current.

In an electric circuit, the current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal of the cell. The image below gives the direction of current, where 'I' denotes the current. The direction of flow of electrons is opposite to the direction of flow of current.

When there is a path that goes from the negative to the positive terminal, you have a circuit, and electrons can flow through the wire.

In an electric circuit, the conventional direction of current is taken as the direction in which a positive charge would move. ie., from positive to negative terminal of the battery. Thus, the current in the external circuit is directed away from the positive terminal and toward the negative terminal of the battery.

Since electric current is a uniform flow of electrons, its direction is opposite to the flow of electrons. Therefore the direction of electric current in an electric circuit is from the positive terminal to the negative terminal of the battery.

"Current flows from the positive (+ve) terminal of the battery to the negative (-ve). This is called conventional current flow. The problem is, electrons are negatively charged, so they want to get away from the -ve and go to the +ve.

Conventional current is defined as the flow of positive charge carriers, while the negative current corresponds to the flow of negative charge carriers, such as electrons britannica.com.

The conventional direction of current is taken from the positive terminal to the negative terminal of the cell. The flow of electrons is from the negative terminal to the positive terminal of the cell.

Why does current flow from positive to negative? ›

Also, since electrons move from lower potential to higher potential in an electric field, the current thus flows the opposite and it is easier to visualize current flowing from a higher potential to a lower potential.

In a circuit, when a live wire and a neutral wire come into direct contact (shorted), the current in the circuit increases drastically. The current now flows through a low resistive path consisting of wires rather than domestic electric circuits consisting of resistive components.

Since conventional current points away from the longer line, we know that the longer line represents the positive terminal. And so, the shorter line represents the negative terminal. Therefore, the shorter line represents the negative terminal of the cell.

A cell has a positive terminal and a negative terminal. For cells such as D, AA and AAA, the positive terminal, (+), is the raised end, normally at the top, while the negative terminal, (-), is the flat end, normally at the bottom. In the circuit diagram of a cell: The long line is the positive (+) terminal.

In a series circuit, there is only one path for the electricity to flow through the circuit. As shown in the series circuit below, there exists only one path from the positive terminal of the electric source to the negative terminal of it via the three bulbs.

In an external electric circuit, the current flows from the positive terminal to the negative terminal of the battery. it is conventional that current flows in opposite direction to the flow of electric charges (electrons).

The wire is simply a pathway for the electrons to travel. Wires are made of metals, which are conductors. Conductors have some electrons that are rather free to move. Electric current (electricity) is a flow or movement of these electrons through the conductor.

“Positive first, then negative. When disconnecting the cables from the old battery, disconnect the negative first, then the positive. Connect the new battery in the reverse order, positive then negative.”

The direction of flow of current was arbitrarily taken to be from positive terminal to negative terminal. Later, however, electrons were discovered and they were found out to be having a negative charge on them. So, the direction of flow of electrons is opposite to the direction of flow of conventional current.