The discussion revolves around calculating current in a system with parallel plates, where one plate is negatively charged and the other positively charged. Participants explore the implications of charge movement, the nature of current, and the role of capacitors in this context. The conversation includes theoretical considerations and conceptual clarifications rather than specific calculations.
Participants express differing views on the nature of current and how it should be represented, particularly regarding the treatment of positive and negative charges. There is no consensus on whether to include the sign of the charge in current calculations, and the discussion remains unresolved.
Limitations include assumptions about charge movement, the definitions of current, and the implications of conventional current versus actual charge flow. The discussion does not resolve these complexities.
Dadface said:More information is needed namely the capacitance of your arrangement,the magnitude of the charge and the resistance of the circuit.
IPwnNubs said:i'm not actually looking for a value, just wondering how in such a system current would be determined
uzair_ha91 said:Are you talking about capacitors here?
When we say that one plate is negatively charged and the other is positively charged, it actually means that the negative plate has an excess of electrons which comes from the positive plate,
so positive can also mean a deficit of negative charge.
There is nothing such as a positive charge in electric circuits...though we use the word positive charge because the flow of positive charges was found to be equivalent to the flow of electrons in opposite direction (also known as conventional current).
uzair_ha91 said:Are you talking about capacitors here?
When we say that one plate is negatively charged and the other is positively charged, it actually means that the negative plate has an excess of electrons which comes from the positive plate,
so positive can also mean a deficit of negative charge.
There is nothing such as a positive charge in electric circuits...though we use the word positive charge because the flow of positive charges was found to be equivalent to the flow of electrons in opposite direction (also known as conventional current).
uzair_ha91 said:The scientists in the past didn't know that electrons create current, so they imagined that current is due to a flow of positive charges (which are actually protons/nuclei which don't move at all). But after discovering electrons to be the current creators, they thought:" hey what the hell, why do we have to change the direction of the arrows?? The effects of the current are still the same!" So the positive charges do not move at all.. If you increase the negative charge in a substance, you can think of it as decreasing the positive charge, the removal of electrons is causing a positive charge.