Conventional Current Flow In A Circuit

Conventional current flow is the one most often used.

Conventional current flow in a circuit. It states that electrons flow from positive to negative. And we consider conventional current as the standard notation of current flow. This was the convention chosen during the discovery of electricity. In general analyzing an electrical circuit yields results that are independent of the assumed direction of current flow.

What is conventional current flow. We need a notation to do some calculations like in kirchhoff s law. When cells were first invented the theory of electron flow mentioned above was unknown. A flow of positive charges offers a similar current and has a similar result in an electrical circuit as an equal flow of negative charges within the opposite direction of electron current.

These two notations are opposite to each other. Electron current and conventional current are two types of notation we use to mention current flow in a circuit. This illustrates conventional current flow. Electron flow and conventional current flow it is important to realize that the difference between conventional current flow and electron flow in no way effects any real world behavior or computational results.

All descriptions of electronic circuits use conventional current so if you see an arrow depicting current flow in a circuit diagram you know it is showing the direction of conventional current flow. Electric current is the flow of electrons from the negative terminal to the positive terminal of a cell. Conventional current electron flow. Conventional current is not a different kind of current it s just a goofy way to point the current arrow.

We point it into the electron current flow instead of the other way. Since electrons the charge carriers in metal wires and most other parts of electric circuits have a negative charge as a consequence they flow in the opposite direction of conventional current flow in an electrical circuit. In the image below we can see current moving from the positive terminal of the battery through the resistance to the negative terminal of the battery. The direction of conventional current is arbitrarily defined as the direction in which positive charges flow.

Because of this many engineers decided to retain the old concept of electricity with positive referring to a surplus of charge and label charge flow current accordingly. Negatively charged carriers such as the electrons the charge carriers in metal wires and many other electronic circuit components therefore flow in the opposite direction of conventional current flow in an electrical circuit. Conventional current is the flow of a positive charge from positive to negative and is the reverse of real electron flow. It s the same as if i gave you a paper map and told you to hold it with south at the top.

In electronics the symbol i represents conventional current measured in amperes or amps abbreviated a. This became known as conventional flow notation.