Timeline for How does current flow in this path when all points are at the same potential?
Current License: CC BY-SA 4.0
14 events
| when toggle format | what | by | license | comment | |
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| Apr 3, 2022 at 4:29 | vote | accept | penguin99 | ||
| Aug 15, 2019 at 20:11 | comment | added | Justin | @noorav - I stumbled across another question with some very good answers that might help you too: electronics.stackexchange.com/questions/19759/… | |
| Aug 13, 2019 at 18:01 | comment | added | Justin | @noorav - I've added some more to my answer. | |
| Aug 13, 2019 at 18:01 | history | edited | Justin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
add some more explanation plus some references
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| Aug 13, 2019 at 14:03 | comment | added | penguin99 | please tell me if my understanding is right. So basically point B is at a lower potential as compared to A, point C is at a lower potential compared to B and this is why current flows from A to B to C and all the way through the whole circuit. Now my question is, what makes point C at a lower potential than point B or point A? A voltage drop right? But the voltage drop occurs only if current flows from A to B. But for the current to flow, there has to exist a voltage drop. This whole situation seems paradoxical to me. Can you please clarify this? | |
| Aug 7, 2019 at 14:47 | comment | added | Justin | There are different considerations for appliance/safety/earth grounding, but those are related to safety and don't change the way current flows. | |
| Aug 7, 2019 at 14:44 | comment | added | Justin | @noorav - Voltage is always measured between two points. Ground is not actually a real thing. Putting a ground symbol on your schematic is just a way to say "I choose to call this point 0 V", but you can actually put it wherever you want. A typical place to put it is on the negative terminal of the battery. The reason to define a ground point for your circuit is so you can say "the voltage at node A is 12 V" instead of saying "the voltage at node A is 12 V higher than the battery negative terminal" all the time. | |
| Aug 7, 2019 at 14:42 | comment | added | penguin99 | Thank you! Also is the potential right at the negative terminal of the battery = 0v or something? (wrt ground) | |
| Aug 7, 2019 at 14:40 | comment | added | Justin | @noorav - Answer edited to talk more about cause and effect | |
| Aug 7, 2019 at 14:39 | history | edited | Justin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 1283 characters in body
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| Aug 7, 2019 at 14:22 | comment | added | penguin99 | Ok so, the points A,B,C,D are not at the exact same potential because of the potential drop after each point, right? Now my question is, a potential drop occurs when current flows through that particular point. What I'm confused about is, potential drop exists hence current flows, but a currentneeds to flow for a potential difference to exist. This sort of seems like a paradox to me, can you please help? | |
| Aug 7, 2019 at 13:58 | history | edited | Justin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
added 404 characters in body
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| Aug 7, 2019 at 13:58 | history | edited | Elliot Alderson | CC BY-SA 4.0 |
Fixed multiplication symbol in equations
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| Aug 7, 2019 at 13:56 | history | answered | Justin | CC BY-SA 4.0 |