Ok, so.. I am a guitar player who Is interested in finding out how all of this works. It's pretty fascinating, however, It's raising quite a few fundamental question for me and unfortunately I'm the type of person that can't skip ahead to a concept if I know that I don't fully understand prior concepts. So I was wondering if you all could help a noob out?
Here's what I'm stuck with:
1. Voltage. For some reason voltage is not really coming together for me, because I'm having a hard to relating the water drop example to the flow of electrons. Is voltage in regards to electrons the amount of electrons that jump to the next on a given swap? That doesn't seem right; that seems like charge. So then is it the speed that the electrons flow that also doesn't seem right because I thought that this was all happening at a fixed speed of the speed of light. Speed does stay constant in a cable right? So then my last idea is, is voltage solely the amount of energy it takes to over come the next atoms resistance to change? How does that work with the example of clouds and ionization? It speaks of a clouds voltage rising, how does a voltage rise, and become more able to tear through the air?
the reason the water drop isn't making sense is because that has to do with the speed the water is falling due to gravity, but I don't think voltage necessarily has to do with speed of electron flow. Does it?
2. The marble example. I'm confused when trying to imagine a few things. What if the cord is more that one atom thick, (which is always the case) how do the electrons flow in unison from the battery? The battery creates a surplus of electrons on one side, how does it distribute that surplus to the attached wire to create an even wall of flowing unison electrons? Why don't all of the electrons flow into one atom, then continue down one atom in the cable? Also, what decides if one electron flows from atom to atom or 300 electrons from atom to atom?
3. Lastly, when you create a surplus of atoms with a battery and then give it to an atom in the wire, that imbalance wants to inherently be corrected by the next atom and so shouldn't the electrons always flow through a wire even if the battery runs out after the initial imbalance? Why does the flow stop with the battery? I read that it is because the electrons will build up, but why is that not the case with static electricity with me and a doorknob? The imbalance doesn't just build up on my hand and stay there even after I touch a doorknob.
I know this is a lot, but I would be incredibly grateful if you could try and explain this to me. It would be a great Christmas gift for a stranger.
toodle pip,
ethan
Here's what I'm stuck with:
1. Voltage. For some reason voltage is not really coming together for me, because I'm having a hard to relating the water drop example to the flow of electrons. Is voltage in regards to electrons the amount of electrons that jump to the next on a given swap? That doesn't seem right; that seems like charge. So then is it the speed that the electrons flow that also doesn't seem right because I thought that this was all happening at a fixed speed of the speed of light. Speed does stay constant in a cable right? So then my last idea is, is voltage solely the amount of energy it takes to over come the next atoms resistance to change? How does that work with the example of clouds and ionization? It speaks of a clouds voltage rising, how does a voltage rise, and become more able to tear through the air?
the reason the water drop isn't making sense is because that has to do with the speed the water is falling due to gravity, but I don't think voltage necessarily has to do with speed of electron flow. Does it?
2. The marble example. I'm confused when trying to imagine a few things. What if the cord is more that one atom thick, (which is always the case) how do the electrons flow in unison from the battery? The battery creates a surplus of electrons on one side, how does it distribute that surplus to the attached wire to create an even wall of flowing unison electrons? Why don't all of the electrons flow into one atom, then continue down one atom in the cable? Also, what decides if one electron flows from atom to atom or 300 electrons from atom to atom?
3. Lastly, when you create a surplus of atoms with a battery and then give it to an atom in the wire, that imbalance wants to inherently be corrected by the next atom and so shouldn't the electrons always flow through a wire even if the battery runs out after the initial imbalance? Why does the flow stop with the battery? I read that it is because the electrons will build up, but why is that not the case with static electricity with me and a doorknob? The imbalance doesn't just build up on my hand and stay there even after I touch a doorknob.
I know this is a lot, but I would be incredibly grateful if you could try and explain this to me. It would be a great Christmas gift for a stranger.
toodle pip,
ethan