Here http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3o8_EARoM… ,from 7:16 to 7:25, Salman Khan says that electrons will travel throught that wire he drew.
So I thought something bigger, this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76342179@N0…
and wondered, would the electrons travel all that just to get to almost the same point they left?
How do they "know" that a wire straightly opposite will get them to the other side?
How high voltage is necessary to "convince" the electrons to travel all that?
Won't that big voltage make the electrons just "jump to" the other plate?
So I thought something bigger, this: http://www.flickr.com/photos/76342179@N0…
and wondered, would the electrons travel all that just to get to almost the same point they left?
How do they "know" that a wire straightly opposite will get them to the other side?
How high voltage is necessary to "convince" the electrons to travel all that?
Won't that big voltage make the electrons just "jump to" the other plate?
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a flow of electrons (electricity) always follows the path of least resistance.
so as long as the wire represents the path of least resistance to the ground, then the electrons will stay in the wire.
however, you are right, if the voltage is high enough, the air can become ionized locally, providing the electrons a new path of least resistance for the electrons to travel.
the electrons don't care if they return to the same point they left or not -- they are simply trying to get to the point of lowest electric potential (voltage). Typically, this "point" is designed to be the "ground" for the circuit -- with ground being defined as the point of zero voltage; i.e. the point of lowest electric potential. In reality, for a house ground tends to be a long pipe buried deep in the earth, and wires attached to this pipe run to the various circuit endpoints to provide a "common ground" for all the circuits in the house.
so as long as the wire represents the path of least resistance to the ground, then the electrons will stay in the wire.
however, you are right, if the voltage is high enough, the air can become ionized locally, providing the electrons a new path of least resistance for the electrons to travel.
the electrons don't care if they return to the same point they left or not -- they are simply trying to get to the point of lowest electric potential (voltage). Typically, this "point" is designed to be the "ground" for the circuit -- with ground being defined as the point of zero voltage; i.e. the point of lowest electric potential. In reality, for a house ground tends to be a long pipe buried deep in the earth, and wires attached to this pipe run to the various circuit endpoints to provide a "common ground" for all the circuits in the house.