So if the path to ground is not the path of least resistance, what does electricity do?
In: Physics
They aren’t the laws of electricity. The laws are:
– ∇ · E = ρ/ε₀ (Gauss’s law)
– ∇ · B = 0 (no magnetic monopole)
– ∇ × E = − ∂B/∂t (Faraday’s law)
– ∇ × B = μ₀(ε₀∂E/∂t + J) (Ampère’s law)
All other ideas about electricity stem from these 4 laws, collectively known as Maxwell’s Equations. You absolutely do not need to understand these equations.
So it doesn’t matter that there are contradictions in the resultant ideas, because they are applications of Maxwell’s equations in specific cases, and those results might not extend to other cases.
To answer your question, consider that every point has an electric potential, measured in Volts. Then if there is a difference in potential between two points, charge is going to move from the high energy to low energy. It does this the quickest way.
A good analogy is thinking about bumpy terrain, where higher is more potential and lower is less potential. A ball will roll down the potential difference and end up at the bottom.
Since there is a potential difference between a wire connected to a battery and the earth, this is where charge will flow, even if going elsewhere is easier.
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