Why electric current doesn't obey traingle rule of addition even though it has magnitude and direction
Why electric current doesn't obey traingle rule of addition even though it has magnitude and direction
Even through it has magnitude and direction, current is not a vector quantity. So it does not obey triangle law of addition. Current is not a vector because despite direction it does not obey the triangle law of vector addtion.
Imagine two current carrying branches meeting at a juntion/node, you do not add currents at junction vectorly. The currents in the two paths add numerically to equal the current coming into the junction I = I1 + I2
Quantities which have direction but do not follow the triangle law of vector addition are Known as Tensor Quantities.
In fact tensors are merely a generalisation of scalars and vectors; a scalar is a zero rank tensor, and a vector is a first rank tensor. Current is a zero rank tensor which means it is a scalar quantity.
Hope you understand!
Current is not a vector because despite direction it does not obey the triangle law of vector addtion.
Imagine two current carrying branches meeting at a juntion/node, you do not add currents at junction vectorly. The currents in the two paths add numerically to equal the current coming into the junction I = I1 + I2
Quantities which have direction but do not follow the triangle law of vector addition are Known as Tensor Quantities.
In fact tensors are merely a generalisation of scalars and vectors; a scalar is a zero rank tensor, and a vector is a first rank tensor. Current is a zero rank tensor which means it is a scalar quantity.
Hope you understand!
