A technician is inspecting a steady direct-current (DC) auxiliary circuit in a vehicle. Which of the following statements correctly describes the physical movement of electric charge carriers through the copper conductor?
- Free electrons drift through the conductor away from the negative terminal and toward the positive terminal.Answer
- BPositively charged atomic nuclei drift through the crystal lattice from the positive terminal toward the negative terminal.
- CElectromotive potential builds up statically across the wire without any physical displacement of particles.
- DElectrons rapidly alternate their direction of travel back and forth with no net forward displacement through the wire.
Answer
Free electrons drift through the conductor away from the negative terminal and toward the positive terminal.
In solid metal conductors such as copper wiring, electric current is the physical flow of negatively charged free electrons. According to electrostatic principles, negative electrons are repelled by the negative terminal of the DC power source and attracted toward the positive terminal, establishing a continuous unidirectional drift.
Step-by-Step Solution
Key Concept
In metallic conductors carrying direct current, electric current is physically constituted by the net drift of negatively charged free electrons from the negative potential toward the positive potential.
Estimated Time:45s