Is metallic wire carrying current charged or electrically neutral?Justig your answer.
Is metallic wire carrying current charged or electrically neutral?Justig your answer.
Dear student,
It's neutral. A wire/resistor cannot store charge. Carrying current simply implies that charge carriers that already existed in the metal wire is in motion. And every charge particle that leaves the metal from one end, is compensated by another entering the wire through the other end from the battery/voltage-source.
PS: Metals are rich in charge carriers. Existence of charge carriers is no reason to think that the material possess charge. A material possess charge, only if an imbalance in +,- charge carriers exist. In metals the +,- charge carriers are balanced, hence doesn't possess any charge in the first place. And when its carrying current, the charge carriers that are lost from one end is replenished through the other end of the wire retaining the +,- charge balance.
Dear student,
It's neutral. A wire/resistor cannot store charge. Carrying current simply implies that charge carriers that already existed in the metal wire is in motion. And every charge particle that leaves the metal from one end, is compensated by another entering the wire through the other end from the battery/voltage-source.
PS: Metals are rich in charge carriers. Existence of charge carriers is no reason to think that the material possess charge. A material possess charge, only if an imbalance in +,- charge carriers exist. In metals the +,- charge carriers are balanced, hence doesn't possess any charge in the first place. And when its carrying current, the charge carriers that are lost from one end is replenished through the other end of the wire retaining the +,- charge balance.
