Explain Voltage IMMEDIATE HELP?

Question

Can Someone explain voltage to me in very very simple laymens terms. I've tried reasearching my own, but something dosent really make sense and im still confused.

I get that its the electrical potential difference and that in a battery one end is positive and one is negative, the positive being the high energy and vise versa. Well Wouldn't you think the PROTONS would flow to the negative end because they're the high energy end and they want to balance out? instead the electrons flow. ??

Also, is this right: it takes a force to push positive and negative charge apart in a battery. this creates voltage or electrical potential between the two ends?? why does only 1 end flow(electrons)

im especially confusd because some diagrams so arrows leading FROM the +to the - side, but others say electrons flow out, to the positive end

HELP PLZ

Answer 1

Protons don't 'flow' as an electric current because compared to electrons they are very tightly bound to the nucleus of all atoms. Electrons on the other hand are more loosely bound, especially in materials like copper, silver, etc.,. These 'loose' electrons can be moved from one point to another by voltage, which is simply the 'pressure' between two electrical charges.

By convention you'll usually see current flow shown moving from negative to positive, but in actuality an electronic circuit can be accurately analyzed by thinking of current flowing from positive to negative.

Answer 2

www.wikipedia.org is beneficial

im especially confusd because some diagrams so arrows leading FROM the +to the - side, but others say electrons flow out, to the positive end

Yep when the scientists first started learning about electricity they guessed wrong. It might have been the 20th century that electrons were proven as the mobile component







I get that its the electrical potential difference and that in a battery one end is positive and one is negative, the positive being the high energy and vise versa. Well Wouldn't you think the PROTONS would flow to the negative end because they're the high energy end and they want to balance out? instead the electrons flow. ??

Think of a freezer popsicle with juice n Ice the massive stuff sits there but the juice is willing to flow towards a vacuum or an absence of fluid

electrons are on the outer area of the atom they are more mobile
Protons have mass and thus would require energy to move physically just like lifting an item Electrons lack mass
thus if you were squeezing an otter pop the liquid moves first.

Clever scientists can cause proton flow, when you recharge a battery that's what happens literally like MetalOH->MetalSO4 actual atoms with protons move

Also, is this right: it takes a force to push positive and negative charge apart in a battery.

Force is a words that says electrical potential difference
You loooooove Ice cream but you are sitting at a table with mere yogurt suddenly a researcher puts ice cream on the buffet You like it better so you quickly walk over to the Ice cream The potential is Ice cream -minus- yogurt=amount of speedy walk across room energy

where did the yogurt get its energy

You are sitting at a table with water suddenly a researcher puts yogurt at the buffet You rather casually wander over to the buffet The potential energy is yogurt -minus- water = gradual walk energy

With batteries its always different forms of matter so there is always something at the table plus something at the buffet

this creates voltage or electrical potential between the two ends?? why does only 1 end flow(electrons)

like recharging batteries causesprotons to flow the other way since matter requires movement force larger than the amount of electron force an atom can have you have to push it with outside electrons

Chemists are able to take any two different metals then have the electrons walk between them at different levels of electromotive force that is voltage

Say cheesecake n Ice cream have different popularities If twice as many people like cheesecake with a casual walk then that represents current The more people that move towards the buffet the higher the current

You can have high or low current with high or low voltage

yummy

Answer 3

First, only electrons can flow thru a wire, never protons. This is because the electrons are on the outside of the atom, and in metals, they're held loosely. Protons are in the nucleus and you can't get them out. HOWEVER, in a solution, an atom can be positively charged and the WHOLE ATOM can flow around in the solution as a positive charge. But charged atoms can't enter a wire.

So, one end of a battery is + and one end is minus. The minus end pushes electrons out and the positive end pulls them back in to the battery.

Next: Voltage the amount of force pushing the electrons. But that doesn't tell you much electricity will flow because you don't know how much resistence there is to the electric flow. For example, say you had a 10 volt battery. This battery will try to push electrons out with 10 volts of 'push'. If you connect the battery to a high resistance wire (say it has 10 'ohms' of resistence), then only 1 amp of current or electricity will fow. But if you connect it to a low resistence wire (with 1 ohm of resistence) the the same ten volts will push 10 amps of currect, which is much more.

The basic formula is volts/ohms = amps. Remember volts are push, amps are the actual flow you get considering how much push you have compared to the resistence. Okay?

Answer 4

I'll try to answer your questions as best I can from memory of my schoolboy physics.

Voltage is the difference in electrical potential between two points - usually in an electrical circuit. Think of the electricity as water in a pipe. The higher the pressure differential between to points (i.e. the voltage) the faster the flow (i.e. greater the current). Voltage used to be known as EMF - electromotive force - for this reason. See the Voltage link below for additional details.

To answer the second question regarding protons, protons are not free in nature they are located in the centre of atoms. In a solid conductor (such as a copper wire) the atomic nuclei are too massive to go anywhere. By contrast, electrons are tiny and can move freely in the metal in response to the voltage (i.e. away from the cathode and towards the anode). I've put a link below for electrolysis that demonstrates positively charged particles do move if they can. In an ionic solution or molten salt, the cations (i.e. positively charged particles) move towards the cathode (i.e. negatively charged pole) and the anions (i.e. negatively charged particles) move towards the anode (i.e. positively charged pole). Its a bit confusing that "cat" implies positive in one term and negative in another - but this is explained in the electrolysis link in more detail.

I am not surprised you are confused by current flow diagrams. This is a historical artifact. Another wiki link is below that shows a diagram. (Look at the bit that describes "conventional current"). It arises because current was considered as a flow of "positive" charge. So convention has the current flowing from the postive electrode to the negative. We now know that in solid metal conductors, the movement of charge is carried by electrons. These flow from the -ve terminal to +ve, so electron flow is in the opposite direction to "current" flow. Just bear in mind that "current" flow is merely an artefact arising from convention rather than a describing any physical process.

Answer 5

As a retired electronics technician....
Electrons (a negative force) are drawn to an absence of negative charges (positive force). Positive 'forces' are not 'things', but an absence of electrons. Only electrons can move (for this case). They are attracted to positive forces and also driven away by other negative forces (electrons). How strongly they are pulled toward a positive charge is called, and measured as, voltage.

In a nutshell, Ohm's Law says that like forces repel, and opposite forces attract.

Hope this helps!

Answer 6

Think of voltage as "push" on electrical charges.

For the time being forget about negative charge or positive charge flow. Your concern most likely needs to be whether or not you have a CIRCUIT. Because without a circuit you don't get any continuous charge flow. [You might get a brief static discharge (spark), but no "steady" charge flow (current).

A water analogy serves propitiously:
voltage <==> water pressure
ohms resistance <==> resistance of water to flow(not a good
illustration here; but the other similarities make up for it.) Think of pipes/tubing of very small to large inner diameter.
current (amperes) <==> water flow

[wattage <==> water flow rate (gallons per unit time)
kilowatt-hours <==> total gallons collected/consumed over time]

Answer 7

Voltage is the difference of electrical potential between two points of an electrical or electronic circuit, expressed in volts [1]. It measures the potential energy of an electric field to cause an electric current in an electrical conductor. Depending on the difference of electrical potential it is called extra low voltage, low voltage, high voltage or extra high voltage.

Answer 8

It's magic !
Just like what is UP + or down -
Today today the electrons flow up - - - no down - - - oh to heck
Go back to school.