Recent content by tomcat017

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    Direction of Electron Flow with Real Batteries

    Got it - because the circuit is not complete, there is no sustained charge flow -- the car is not an infinite source of charges. Once the potential difference is established, current ceases. Right? I'm still not quite confident on the positive/negative battery issue, but I think it comes...
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    Direction of Electron Flow with Real Batteries

    And it (electrons) will actually flow from the negative terminal of the battery through your body back to the positive terminal? I know it generally doesn't matter - I'm just trying to picture what actually happens. What if I were grounded and touched, sequentially, the (+) and (-)...
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    Direction of Electron Flow with Real Batteries

    Thank you! What about in house wiring? The "hot" wire is general considered positive and the neutral/return is considered (-). How can that be? The "hot" wire must contain electrons at higher potential energy, since it is the one that'll blast you, no? So does that mean that in home...
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    Direction of Electron Flow with Real Batteries

    Hello all - a quick question that I can't seem to find an answer to online that I trust... While the conventional current model describes flow of positive charges around a circuit, we know that current is actually the flow of electrons (at least in common metallic conductors). Which leads to...
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    Van de Graaff Generator - Shock vs. No Shock?

    Yes - something you said at the end there caused me to wonder if this is the case: Perhaps, with the nail (a pointy object, subject to lots of charge escape) being brought near the grounded discharge electrode, the amount of charge leaking off the nail progressively increases as I bring the...
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    Van de Graaff Generator - Shock vs. No Shock?

    Thanks Dave! Appreciate all the explanation. By the numbers: 1: so the only reason I feel the shock at the hand/foot (but not side of my body) is that the charge travels along the surface of my body in distributed form, but enters/exits at a very small point - thus the area is smaller...
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    Van de Graaff Generator - Shock vs. No Shock?

    Hello all, I have a quick, albeit probably ignorant (forgive me) question generated by (bu dum) observations of a van de graaff generator. In particular, two distinct scenarios caused me to question what was going on. Scenario 1 – I’m standing on a plastic stool, with one hand on the...
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