Conventional v Electron Flow

This is really confusing me. I know that electrons and charge flows from the
negative terminal in a circuit to the positive one. Yet placing a diode in
the circuit contradicts this;

http://www.rare-earth-magnets.com/images2/00441.jpg

This is somewhat paradoxical. How can a DC flow from + to - when I know the
electron flow is in the other direction??? Please help!

James

Dear James:

"James" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1wBrh.64867$[Only registered users see links. ].net...

Do a search on "hole current".

The electrons *do* flow, but the descriptions we have are blind
to this "reality". Ever play with one of those little puzzles
where you get the 15 tiles on a 4x4 matrix to be in numerical
order? It is all about moving the hole...

David A. Smith

Dear James:

"James" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:1wBrh.64867$[Only registered users see links. ].net...

Do a search on "hole current".

The electrons *do* flow, but the descriptions we have are blind
to this "reality". Ever play with one of those little puzzles
where you get the 15 tiles on a 4x4 matrix to be in numerical
order? It is all about moving the hole...

David A. Smith

James wrote:

It goes back to when they were first playing with electricity...
they knew there must be a surplus of something flowing to where
there was a deficiency....they made a guess....and blew it....

They made what they thought was the surplus side positive...
and what they thought the deficient side negative...

When we finally figured out where the surplus was and what it was
we started talking about electron flow from negative to positive...

The old one from pos to neg is called conventional current flow...
the new one electron current flow...

It really doesn't matter which way you think about the flow...when you
do the math the voltage drops, etc will work out the same for either...

Conventional current flow is still used traditionally in some uses...
such as magnetic circuits....

Some people (like me) who are comfortable with both will use whatever
is most convenient when going through a circuit...and will blow other
peoples minds....<grin>

Hope that kind of explains things....

have fun.....sno

James wrote:

It goes back to when they were first playing with electricity...
they knew there must be a surplus of something flowing to where
there was a deficiency....they made a guess....and blew it....

They made what they thought was the surplus side positive...
and what they thought the deficient side negative...

When we finally figured out where the surplus was and what it was
we started talking about electron flow from negative to positive...

The old one from pos to neg is called conventional current flow...
the new one electron current flow...

It really doesn't matter which way you think about the flow...when you
do the math the voltage drops, etc will work out the same for either...

Conventional current flow is still used traditionally in some uses...
such as magnetic circuits....

Some people (like me) who are comfortable with both will use whatever
is most convenient when going through a circuit...and will blow other
peoples minds....<grin>

Hope that kind of explains things....

have fun.....sno

James wrote:

Sorry...do not think I answered your question in my other reply where
I explained the difference between electron and conventional current
flow.

Your link shows diode circuits...the easy way to understand diodes is
to remember/think that they conduct when the arrow points toward a
negative, they act almost like a short (have small resistance),
if the arrow points toward a positive then they cut off (large
resistance)....

The symbol for a diode comes from the time when only conventional
current
was used...the arrow shows the direction of current flow from positive
to negative. Electron current flow is against the arrow when it is
turned
on.

hope helps...

have fun.....sno

James wrote:

Sorry...do not think I answered your question in my other reply where
I explained the difference between electron and conventional current
flow.

Your link shows diode circuits...the easy way to understand diodes is
to remember/think that they conduct when the arrow points toward a
negative, they act almost like a short (have small resistance),
if the arrow points toward a positive then they cut off (large
resistance)....

The symbol for a diode comes from the time when only conventional
current
was used...the arrow shows the direction of current flow from positive
to negative. Electron current flow is against the arrow when it is
turned
on.

hope helps...

have fun.....sno

Okay, I think I understand;

'Positive current' is a by-product of negatively charged current flowing in
the opposite direction.


James


P.S. How come conductors don't get 'saturated' with electrons??


"sno" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message news:[Only registered users see links. ]...
the
in
the

Okay, I think I understand;

'Positive current' is a by-product of negatively charged current flowing in
the opposite direction.


James


P.S. How come conductors don't get 'saturated' with electrons??


"sno" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message news:[Only registered users see links. ]...
the
in
the

Dear James:

"James" <[Only registered users see links. ]> wrote in message
news:60Grh.17947$[Only registered users see links. ].net...


They do that and they get depleted of electrons too... it is
called a "static charge".

Similarly, this is how a field effect transistor works. A static
electric field depletes a region of charge carriers to achieve
shutoff.

David A. Smith