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In other media, any stream of charged objects (ions, for example) may constitute an electric current. To provide a definition of current independent of the type of charge carriers, conventional current is defined as moving in the same direction as the positive charge flow. So, in metals where the charge carriers (electrons) are negative ...
If the matter field is taken so as to describe the interaction of electromagnetic fields with the Dirac electron given by the four-component Dirac spinor field ψ, the current and charge densities have form: [2] = † = †, where α are the first three Dirac matrices. Using this, we can re-write Maxwell's equations as:
The conventional "hole" current is in the negative direction of the electron current and the negative of the electrical charge which gives I x = ntw(−v x)(−e) where n is charge carrier density, tw is the cross-sectional area, and −e is the charge of each electron.
If the geometry is more complicated, or if the resistivity varies from point to point within the material, the current and electric field will be functions of position. Then it is necessary to use a more general expression in which the resistivity at a particular point is defined as the ratio of the electric field to the density of the current ...
The difference between copper, steel, and rubber is related to their microscopic structure and electron configuration, and is quantified by a property called resistivity. In addition to geometry and material, there are various other factors that influence resistance and conductance, such as temperature; see below .
Summarizing, for any truly ohmic device having resistance R, V/I = ΔV/ΔI = R for any applied voltage or current or for the difference between any set of applied voltages or currents. The I–V curves of four devices: Two resistors, a diode, and a battery. The two resistors follow Ohm's law: The plot is a straight line through the origin.
When a voltmeter is connected between two different types of metal, it measures the potential difference corrected for the different atomic environments. [6] The quantity measured by a voltmeter is called electrochemical potential or fermi level , while the pure unadjusted electric potential, V , is sometimes called the Galvani potential , ϕ .
Diffusion current is a current in a semiconductor caused by the diffusion of charge carriers (electrons and/or electron holes). This is the current which is due to the transport of charges occurring because of non-uniform concentration of charged particles in a semiconductor.