Tag: potential difference

A 3 pin plug consists of three pins (hence the name). Each pin must be correctly connected to the three wires in the electrical cable. Each wire has its own specified color so as it can be easily identified.
The LIVE wire is RED OR BROWN. This is connected to a fuse on the live pin. The electric current uses the live wire as its route in.
The NEUTRAL wire is BLUE OR BLACK. This is the route the electric current takes when it exits an appliance; it is for this reason the neutral wire has a voltage close to zero.
The EARTH wire is GREEN OR  YELLOW and connected to the earth pin. This is used when the appliance has a metal casing to take any current away if the live wire comes in contact with the casing.

A switch opens or closes an electrical circuit. If the circuit is open, no electricity flows. If the circuit is closed, electricity flows through the circuit. 
Example:
A light switch is commonly used. When you turn the switch on, the circuit closes and electricity flows through the light. When you turn the switch off, the circuit is opened and the flow of electricity stops, making the light go out. 
In our homes, we receive supply of electric power through a main supply (mains), either supported through overhead electric poles or by underground cables.The live wire and neutral wire, coming from the electric pole, enter a box fitted just outside our house which has a main fuse.
The live wire is connected to the switch because, the live wire carries a voltage of 220 V and the passage of this voltage can be disabled by switching of the circuit.

In electricity generation A generator is a device which uses mechanical energy to produce electrical energy which flows in form of electric current in circuits. hence Generator can produce current.

Electric current flows from positive electrode of cell to negative electrode of cell, i.e., from high potential to low potential.

The current in the wire is due to the drifting of electrons inside a wire in a direction opposite to the flow of electrons. During their drifting they collide with their atoms vibrating about their mean position and lose some of kinetic energy to the vibrating atoms. 
The electrons are negatively charged particles and so, the electrons move towards the positively charged terminal from the negatively charged terminal.
Hence, the statement is true as the conventional direction of flow of current is from positive terminal to negative terminal of the cell.

An electric current is a flow of electric charge. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by moving electrons in a wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or by both ions and electrons such as in a plasma.
The SI unit for measuring an electric current is the ampere, which is the flow of electric charge across a surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric current is measured using a device called an ammeter.

Current is measured in Coulomb/sec or Ampere. 

The direction of an electric current is by convention the direction in which a positive charge would move. Thus, thecurrent in the external circuit is directed away from the positive terminal and toward the negative terminal of the battery. Electrons would actually move through the wires in the opposite direction.