larrymikerson,
Here is some reading material for you to read:
http://amasci.com/miscon/elect.html
http://science.uniserve.edu.au/school/curric/stage6/phys/stw2002/sefton.pdf
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Who is Herman?
Posted: « Reply #37 on: 31 Dec 2013, 08:53 pm »
Who am I? I received my first real electronics training in the army about 30 years ago. After that I taught electronics at the Associate degree level for about 10 years. I have an AAS degree in electronics and bachelors in Math and Science. I an not an EE.
If any of you care to read the posted links above with an open mind you will see what the truth is. And no; I will not be drug into another pointless debate by people who insist that current is the flow of electrons just like water flows. I will leave you with a few key ideas that commonly misunderstood. You can easily research this for yourself and see it is true.
In audio we are talking about the transfer of energy in the form of an electromagnetic wave.
Electrons and wires are not needed to transfer this energy. For example, the waves will radiate in free space or down a waveguide.
Current is the flow of charge, not electrons; however it is not needed to transfer the energy therefore the current (flow of charge) in the wire is an effect, not a cause.
At low frequencies like audio it is easier to construct a system where the energy follows a wire more easily than through space or a waveguide because the wavelength is so long and the waveguide or antenna would need to be humongous.
The water flow analogy is fatally flawed, it cannot explain everything that is happening with AC or DC. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hydraulic_analogy
Current flow is a misnomer with AC and causes great confusion since the charges are not really flowing. The periodic motion of the charge is not a flow in the conventional sense of the word. This is the only use of the word flow I have ever seen that describes periodic motion. For instance, pendulums do not flow. This basic misconception was the cause of much of the Audiogon debacle. Somebody was insisting that electrons vibrating about a fixed point could be described as current flow.
Take form it what you will. Hopefully you can think about it with an open mind and see the simplistic view offered in beginner classes is not adequate to explain many things.
