- #1
Evil Bunny
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So I came across http://amasci.com/miscon/eleca.html#circle" on W Beaty's site and it's not sitting well with me.
Here is a quote:
This doesn't seem right to me. My impression has always been that the charges flow from one of the slots (hot) in the wall socket and return on the other slot (neutral) in the socket. Then the charge flows back from that slot (neutral) to the first slot (hot) in the wall socket... This goes back and forth and repeats itself 60 times a second (here in the US anyway). I have never heard anyone claim that these charges are simultaneously (hot and neutral) leaving the socket at the same time and diving into the filament.
I understand about drift velocity and I get that the wave, or impulse, or whatever you want to call it, is what travels along the wire at near light speed and not any individual electron... that's not what I'm having an issue with.
I just always thought that this wave traveled from one side of the source and to the other side of the source. Never have I heard anyone claim that this wave travels simultaneously out of both sides of the source to plunge into a load... I think this notion will only confuse people.
EDIT: It just occurred to me that he's talking about energy and not current. An important distinction... yet I tend to think it would still cause a great deal of confusion to students if this difference is not heavily stressed. any thoughts?
Here is a quote:
So, when you plug a lamp into a wall socket, you shouldn't imagine that the AC energy is a mysterious invisible entity traveling back and forth inside the wires. Instead you should think of AC energy as a mysterious invisible flow that comes out of the outlet, runs along the outside of both wires of the lampcord, then it dives into the filament of the light bulb.
This doesn't seem right to me. My impression has always been that the charges flow from one of the slots (hot) in the wall socket and return on the other slot (neutral) in the socket. Then the charge flows back from that slot (neutral) to the first slot (hot) in the wall socket... This goes back and forth and repeats itself 60 times a second (here in the US anyway). I have never heard anyone claim that these charges are simultaneously (hot and neutral) leaving the socket at the same time and diving into the filament.
I understand about drift velocity and I get that the wave, or impulse, or whatever you want to call it, is what travels along the wire at near light speed and not any individual electron... that's not what I'm having an issue with.
I just always thought that this wave traveled from one side of the source and to the other side of the source. Never have I heard anyone claim that this wave travels simultaneously out of both sides of the source to plunge into a load... I think this notion will only confuse people.
EDIT: It just occurred to me that he's talking about energy and not current. An important distinction... yet I tend to think it would still cause a great deal of confusion to students if this difference is not heavily stressed. any thoughts?
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