To Fuse or Not to Fuse... That is the question!

listen to Almarg

the mistaken idea that electrons flow like water in a hose that is promoted in entry level physics classes has caused untold confusion. AC is not bidirectional. Energy is transferred from the source to the load. Any movement of electrons is a byproduct of that, not a cause, and they most certainly do not "flow" as most people envision it.

forget about electrons. Any attempt to explain what is happening that involves electrons is doomed to fail.

herman,


E-field is due to charge differential, which is a factor of electrons everywhere in the circuit all at once. Moving charges, i.e. moving electrons in traditional model or (photons quantum model) leads to magnetic field (b-field). Energy vector is integrated cross-product of e-field and b-field over the whole circuit which points to the load always. The b-field and e-field change direction, but the product of them does not.

So while energy transfer is one way, AC is bidirectional and has different field directions for the electric and magnetic fields.

Charge does move, whether very slow, or what is effectively back and force in one place.

It’s push me, pull me 🔛 plain and simple. The current is alternating on the + and - wires. When the current travels one way on one wire current travels the opposite way on the other wire. You can’t make it any simpler than that. When you switch the + and - wires the speakers operate out of polarity. I agree electrons are a red herring. So are the E and B fields. They are a function of the current. Current is the moving charge.

No, E fields are not a function of current in this example. You can have an E-field without current. You need a changing e-field / current to have a b-field.

You need to stop eating so many red-herrings. It is giving you indigestion.

Uh, but for audio cables there IS current. So your argument is irrelevant. We know there are such things as E and H fields from Heaviside and Poynting. And probably Maxwell, too. Nobody is denying they exist. Remember, just because they’re truisms doesn’t mean they support your position.