where do the current flow in a wire - through the core of the wire or on the surface of the wire?

Answer 1

Well, I'm pretty sure that electrons flow on the surface. That's why most wires are a combination of small wires twisted together instead of a single wire (although those are also popular). This is done to reduce resistance.

Answer 2

zee Prime is really close to the best answer.. The current flow on the surface of the wire is called the "skin effect". Take a second to think and you will realize that electrons repeleach other, so they try to stay as far apart as possible the best place to be apart is on the outer surface. Thus the development of copper coated Aluminum wire The electron repulsion is also why wires work in the first place. An electron pushed into one end bumps the next electron, bumps the next all the way to where you are standing with a plug in your hand.
Skin effect is one of the main reasons why we use stranded wire even in larger residential wires when we can size 10 AWG American wire gage, and bigger. Most house wires are 12 AWG or 15 AWG (the bigger the number the smaller the wire (old school most countries go metric now, makes alot more sence)) solid because they are cheaper to make.
I would like to throw in that you shoulds look up Nicoli Tesla the father of modern electrical systems.
He did most of the early development of what we use today. Edison was a stick in the mud. Tesla worked for Edison for just a few weeks. Developed what Edison said he would pay millions for. Tesla produced, Edison reniged. Tesla quit and went off on his own. Tesla sold all his patents to Westinghouse. Westinghouse tried to be good and pay up but got back stabbed by his share holders so Tesla, one of the greatest minds the world has ever known died broke.

Excellent reading. Oddly enough Tesla like Newton stayed away from girls because they were to much of a distraction to his deep thoughts.
It was said he thought in four dimensions. He would build a devise in his mind and let it run, come back and see where the weak points were and correct them before they got out of his mind.
Kept everything in his mind too. Rarelly wrote anything down. We lost allot when he passed.

Answer 3

An interesting question. Direct current flows uniformly through the entire thickness of the wire. But as you gradually increase the frequency, it increasingly tends to flow on the surface. By the time you get up to microwave frequencies, all the current flows on the outer surface. So if you're designing wiring to only carry microwaves, you can save money by leaving out the inside, and just using a hollow tube.

Answer 4

DC current is evenly distributed throughout the wire as to minimize potential differences.
AC current will have a tendency to be higher towards the surface of the wire. The higher the frequency, the greater the difference between core and surface current.

Answer 5

It takes the path of least resistance which means that it travels over any uninsulated surface, and as it is fluid it acts pretty much like water in that any exposed surface gets wet, how much of the charge actually gets to the core of the material is determined by what the material is or rather how conductive the material is and also the distance it has to travel. An electric train for instance makes the connection to overhead cables by the terminals connecting on the surface of the cables not on the core.

I hope that helped.

Answer 6

For an ideal conductor electric field inside it is zero,so there is no current in the core of the coductor. But in current electricity charges i.e. electrons does drift inside as well as on the surface of the conductor. So current flows thru core as well as on the surface of the wire.

Answer 7

Current travels through the whole cross section of the wire and the total resistance of the circuit and the voltage and the frequency all affect it. Also Ac and Dc currents have different characteristics. Keeping it simple

Voltage is the amount of electrical pressure it takes to push it through. ( Like a water pipe) Think of it this way, it takes 1 volt to push 1 amp of current through 1 ohm of resistance at 1 watt.

Answer 8

the lower the frequency (0-100cps) current travels through the core of the wire.

at higher frequency like radio frequency, current travels on the surface of the wire. the impedance of the circuit is high.

Answer 9

The cross sectional area... The larger your cross sectional area, the lesser the resistance and ultimately the more current that's able to flow through.

Answer 10

the current accepted theory is on the surface.