AC current is the back and forth movement of electrons in a wire. If something uses some of the power, does that mean that there are more electrons moving in one direction and less in the other because some of the electrons are used up powering the thing?

Question

AC current is the back and forth movement of electrons in a wire. If something uses some of the power, does that mean that there are more electrons moving in one direction and less in the other because some of the electrons are used up powering the thing?

In: Physics

Answer 1

Electricity doesn’t “use up” electrons.

Imagine you have a chain around gears, the links of the chain don’t get used up as they go around the sprocket, but they are still transferring power. Electricity isn’t the electrons themselves, but rather the movement of those electrons.