When a current is passed through a conductor, will it be charged?

AI Thread Summary
When a current flows through a conductor, the charge carriers do not create an excess charge; instead, they balance the stationary ions, maintaining a net charge of zero. The movement of charge carriers, such as electrons, does not result in an overall charge accumulation because any influx of electrons at one end is matched by an equal outflow at the other end. The concept of net charge being zero, even during current flow, is linked to the principle that charge is conserved within the conductor. The discussion also touches on the idea that the apparent bunching of charge carriers can be misinterpreted as a net charge, but this is actually a manifestation of magnetic effects rather than excess charge. Understanding these principles clarifies the behavior of conductors in electrical circuits.
Rozwind
Please explain me the following answer

Q)When a current is passed through a conductor, will it be charged?
A)Charge carriers participating in conduction in a conductor are not excess charge carriers. The number of free charge carriers is equal to the number of opposite charge on the nearly stationary ions of the material such that the net charge is zero, whether or not a current is passed through the conductor.

Also, explain me why is the net charge zero even if current is passed through the conductor.
 
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What is your opinion and what have you found out for yourself?
Ask yourself what would happen if there were an excess charge on a conductor in a circuit. Where would it have come from?
 
Rozwind said:
...explain me why is the net charge zero even if current is passed through the conductor.
When current flows, the charge carriers (from your point of view) bunch up but, to avoid confusion, since this net charge is frame dependent, it's called magnetism, not charge.
 
sophiecentaur said:
...if there were an excess charge on a conductor in a circuit. Where would it have come from?
The excess charge could come from electrons entering one end of a conductor before a like amount leave the other end.
 
Thread 'Motional EMF in Faraday disc, co-rotating magnet axial mean flux'

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