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In electronics, other forms of electric current include the flow of electrons through resistors or through the vacuum in a vacuum tube, the flow of ions inside a battery, and the flow of holes within metals and semiconductors. A biological example of current is the flow of ions in neurons and nerves, responsible for both thought and sensory ...
Direct current may flow through a conductor such as a wire, but can also flow through semiconductors, insulators, or even through a vacuum as in electron or ion beams. The electric current flows in a constant direction, distinguishing it from alternating current (AC). A term formerly used for this type of current was galvanic current. [1]
Illustration of the "reference directions" of the current (), voltage (), and power () variables used in the passive sign convention.If positive current is defined as flowing into the device terminal which is defined to be positive voltage, then positive power (big arrow) given by the equation = represents electric power flowing into the device, and negative power represents power flowing out.
Electric current can flow through some things, electrical conductors, but will not flow through an electrical insulator. [ 42 ] By historical convention, a positive current is defined as having the same direction of flow as any positive charge it contains, or to flow from the most positive part of a circuit to the most negative part.
Alternating current (AC) is an electric current that periodically reverses direction and changes its magnitude continuously with time, in contrast to direct current (DC), which flows only in one direction.
Cause of skin effect. A main current I flowing through a conductor induces a magnetic field H.If the current increases, as in this figure, the resulting increase in H induces separate, circulating eddy currents I W which partially cancel the current flow in the center and reinforce it near the skin.
An ideal current source generates a current that is independent of the voltage changes across it. An ideal current source is a mathematical model, which real devices can approach very closely. If the current through an ideal current source can be specified independently of any other variable in a circuit, it is called an independent current source.
In this case, the voltage refers to the voltage across a biological membrane, a membrane potential, and the current is the flow of charged ions through channels in this membrane. The current is determined by the conductances of these channels. In the case of ionic current across biological membranes, currents are measured from inside to outside.