what happens when one side of the battery is connected to the other ?
2007-03-19 11:14:57 · 2 answers · asked by crazzy 1 in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
What actually happens is electrons are being transfered from atom to atom in the conductor (wire). This means an electron will 'jump' from one atom to the next, and the electron that was on that atom will jump to the next, and so on. This means that electrons don't really flow at the speed of light. When you flip the switch, the light only comes on right away because there is already an electron waiting to be transfered to the light bulb at the end of the wire, so it "looks" like electrons travel at the speed of light, but they don't.
2007-03-19 11:53:37 · answer #1 · answered by pedros2008 3 · 0⤊ 0⤋
First of all, the electrons *never* get to the protons. What exists in a battery is an excess of electrons on one terminal and a deficit of electrons on the other terminal. When you connetc them together through an external circuit, the charge differential tries to become 0 as the electrons flow through the circuit.
Doug
2007-03-19 11:19:19 · answer #2 · answered by doug_donaghue 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋