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Physics
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Electric field in a circuit with a DC source
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[QUOTE="BvU, post: 6193301, member: 499340"] Yeah, this is conceptually confusing -- we all form a certain mental image for what is happening and sometimes these ideas go on the run. A battery produces a potential difference. When there is a path from one terminal to the other, current will want to flow. Resistance determines how much or how little in the steady state case. The very moment something is connected to the battery, the capacitance of the setup influences how much charge flows to propagate the battery potential to the setup. This charge flows until the potential difference is spread out over the entire setup -- I use the word setup, because it doesn't have to be a closed circuit: it can be a wire above a plate connected to the other terminal, or anything else that is capable to store some charge. The point is that the amount of charge involved is minuscule because the capacity to store charge is generally very small. Number of charge carriers to charge e.g. a [URL='https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capacitance#Capacitance_of_conductors_with_simple_shapes']sphere[/URL] to, say, 9 V, is relatively small. Whereas the amount of charge that flows in a closed circuit, even with a high resistance, is humongous in terms of number of charge carriers. Do some calculations with the definitions of current and potential and the coulomb number to get an idea. [/QUOTE]
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Physics
Classical Physics
Electromagnetism
Electric field in a circuit with a DC source
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