Current flows in complete circuits. From one terminal of the battery, through the lamp, and back to the other terminal of the battery. They don't drain the battery as fast as a short circuit because the quantity of carriers flowing (per second) is less, which we normally just call "the current is smaller".
And most important, the charge-sea within the battery's wires will flow twice as fast. In other words, the speed of the charges is proportional to the value of electric current; small current means slow charge-flow, large current means high speed. Zero current means the charges have stopped in place.
In your battery example, there is no return current path so no current will flow. There is obviously a more deep physics reason for why this works but as the question asked for a simple answer I'll skip the math, google Maxwell's Equations and how they are used in the derivation of Kirchhoff's voltage law.
Lets assume your lightbulb has a resistance (impedance) of 200 Ohm, which would be a legit number in real life. Now that your current is much smaller when introducing a lightbulb to your circuit, your battery will discharge only slowly . Also one little correction: The current doesn't actually slow down or speed up, only the amplitude changes.
As a result the charge flows around the circuit. Here are two representations of this movement. Current is always represented by an arrow which points along the wire or other circuit element, so that it is pointing away from the positive terminal of the battery and towards the negative.
Now that your current is much smaller when introducing a lightbulb to your circuit, your battery will discharge only slowly . Also one little correction: The current doesn't actually slow down or speed up, only the amplitude changes. For the speed in which electrons travel through conductive materials you will have to check out "drift velocity".
Within the (lead-acid) battery, the electric current is primarily due to proton (hydrogen ion) current which is in the same direction as the electric current. So, there are at least three currents to …
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The displacement current flows from one plate to the other, through the dielectric whenever current flows into or out of the capacitor plates and has the exact same …
The individual electrons move slowly; the current moves quickly. Compare this to a water wave: the wave advances, but the individual water particles go back to their place. …
And most important, the charge-sea within the battery''s wires will flow twice as fast. In other words, the speed of the charges is proportional to the value of electric current; small current …
If you connect a high-power (bright) light between the battery terminals it will drain the battery faster than a lower-power (dim) light, because the bright light will draw more …
Electric current is the very slow flow of this electron gas through the wire when an electric field is present. The term "flow of current" actually is misleading - there is no such "substance" called …
Electric current is the very slow flow of this electron gas through the wire when an electric field is present. The term "flow of current" actually is misleading - there is no such "substance" called …
Current is always represented by an arrow which points along the wire or other circuit element, so that it is pointing away from the positive terminal of the battery and towards the negative. The current arrows point in the opposite direction to …
Follow up question: So does this mean that the positive terminal of the battery has a higher density of electrons than the negative side (i.e. the battery is basically labelled backwards to …
What is a battery? A battery is a self-contained, chemical power pack that can produce a limited amount of electrical energy wherever it''s needed. Unlike normal electricity, …
Current is always represented by an arrow which points along the wire or other circuit element, so that it is pointing away from the positive terminal of the battery and towards the negative. The …
They don''t drain the battery as fast as a short circuit because the quantity of carriers flowing (per second) is less, which we normally just call "the current is smaller". Why does the resistance …
They don''t drain the battery as fast as a short circuit because the quantity of carriers flowing (per second) is less, which we normally just call "the current is smaller". Why does the resistance dictate the current? The current is less …
The higher the resistance, the steeper the parabola. The chemical reactions reach a stable value where the battery straight line crosses the parabola for the wire. A high resistance wire cuts the battery line earlier, so high resistance …
As soon as the switch is put in position 2 a ''large'' current starts to flow and the potential difference across the capacitor drops. (Figure 4). As charge flows from one plate to the other through the …
However, in a battery, you have an electron build-up that creates the voltage. Once current begins to flow, electrons are now moving through the circuit. Does this mean that …
The easiest way to think of it is this: Current will only ever flow in a loop, even in very complex circuits you can always break it down into loops of current, if there is no path for …
The higher the resistance, the steeper the parabola. The chemical reactions reach a stable value where the battery straight line crosses the parabola for the wire. A high resistance wire cuts …
In the case of a battery attached to a circuit the circuit removes some of the reaction products from the terminal. This drops the voltage slightly and allows the reaction to …
Current doesn''t actually flow through batteries. The atoms on either side of the battery undergo chemical reaction that cause them to release or accept electrons. Once all the …
If e.g.a double current is drained from a cell, the external cell voltage is decrease by the doubled voltage drop on the cell internal resistance: $$U_mathrm{e}=U_0 - R cdot I$$ …
Seems like an easy enough question, but the real answer may surprise you!We all learn at an early age that an electrical current flows from a battery''s positive (+) terminal to it''s negative (-) terminal.With this foundational …