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Why the electric current is known as the flow of free electrons.
Why we are not saying that the electric current is known as the flow of protons.

Vino Aldrin , 6 Years ago

Grade 10

2 Answers

Arun

Last Activity: 6 Years ago

Free electrons are also known as conduction electrons. Each copper atom provides a single free electron, so there are as many free electrons as atoms. When a voltageis connected across a piece of copper, it pushes the free electrons so that they flowthrough the metal – that's an electric current

Khimraj

Last Activity: 5 Years ago

More precisely, the flow of electrons is an electric current. Protons do not flow in an electric circuit; they stay fixed in place because they’re much heavier than the electrons. However, protons can flow in a plasma. In that case, the flow of protons is also called an “electric current.”

By convention, the direction of flow of electric current is opposite the direction of electron flow. In a plasma, if protons are moving, the resulting current is in the same direction as proton flow.