A single moving charge constituite a current

[Kolahal Bhattacharya]

Can you tell whether a single moving charge constituite a current?Not necessarily steady current.I will be happy I we get a non-steady current.To have a non-zero current we need dq/dt not equal to zero.So at point in space,we measure dq/dt and it is 0 at time t,q at time t' and 0 again at time t".So at that point the current is q/(t"-t).Please justify...

 

[StatMechGuy]

Well, think about it. Let's say we have a line of charge, and start running parallel to it with a velocity v. Then suddenly it's a current with a distribution equal to the charge distribution times v. Why shouldn't this apply to a point charge?

 

[Kolahal Bhattacharya]

ofcourse,now I can understand this.Thank you

 

[Sojourner01]

A single point charge moving does indeed constitute a current at that point in space. When we speak of a current in a wire, what we mean is the aggregate effect of every moving charge in that wire. What appears to us as a steady current is in fact the overlapping fields of an enormous number of charges passing us rapidly and giving the effect of a moving charge equally at every point in space.