For example, I was listening to a podcast about hydropower, and the mentioned that the water current does what it does, and shakes these electrons free and that creates electricity, but do the h2o molecules lose an electron, or are there just a ton of free roaming electrons out I’m the world. I have no clue how it all works, do maybe my assumptions are all wrong, Thanks in advance!
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The water doesn’t lose electrons. It turns a magnet inside a coil of wire that pulls loosely held electronics along and induces a current. As it pushes electrons out they travel in a circuit feeding back into where the other electrons are pulled from.
The simplest is direct current. The electrons flow out the negative and get pulled in the positive. Alternating current pushes and pulls. With that you can use the earth as part of the circuit.
Metals don’t hold electrons very tightly. They can flow around. That makes them good conductors. Water is not a good conductor, but if you add some impurities like sodium (a metal) in there it will let the electrons flow.
You can get imbalances, but those cause sparks and static that get satisfied from around the environment.
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