How exactly does an electrical circuit carry energy?

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How exactly does an electrical circuit carry energy?

I understand that particles (protons and electrons) have “charge”, and opposite charges attract. And that electrons supposedly migrate very slowly along wires, and as they do so this creates an “electromagnetic field”.

What exactly is this electromagnetic field? What does that mean?

And if the electrons are not carrying the energy, how does it work? How does a circuit make a lightbulb glow at the atomic level?

In: Physics

3 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

Similar to water in a river, water itself does not carry energy, it’s the movement of water that carries the energy.

Water pushes stuff around and we use that to power things like water turbines. We also use moving magnets to push electrons through the wire and so the EM field of those electrons also move.

Electrons and EM fields push stuff in the appliances to make them move, that’s how the energy is transferred and utilized.

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