Trevor Jordan wrote:
>
> At 14:24 +1100 12/11/97, Joe Curry wrote:
> >For all the "current flows both directions" or "it doesn't matter"
> >partisans out there. If that is so, Please explain to me how diodes
> >work!
> >
> >Dan, Watch what kinds of responses I get!
> >
> >Joe Curry '63 Spit
>
> To which the only sensible response is "what type of diode?"
>
> [Never answer a question with another question, to which the proper
> response is: why not?]
>
> Taking the example of a thermionic (vacuum tube) diode, which is the
> easiest to visualize and explain, it consists of two electrodes (metal
> plates) sealed in a vacuum tube. The cathode is heated and the anode is
> not. The high temperature of the cathode creates high energy electrons
> which can escape from the metal of the cathode (sometimes referred to as
> "boiling off"). If a voltage is applied to the diode with the cathode
> negative and the anode positive, then current will flow through the diode.
> If the polarity of the voltage is reversed, there are no high energy
> electron at the anode and no current will flow.
>
> I seem to recall that this was how it was determined that current was
> carried by negatively charged particles which they then called electrons.
> Electron flow in metal conductors is not a theory, it is a fairly well
> established fact.
>
> Electricity does not actually flow from one point to another, regardless of
> direction, it flows in circles; which, for reasons which escape me, are
> called circuits. After an electron flows through the wires from the
> negative terminal of the battery to the positive terminal, it then flows
> back through the battery to the negative terminal. The proof of this is
> startlingly simple. If the electrons all accumulated on the positive
> terminal of the battery, our cars would progressively lean to one side,
> until eventually they would be undriveable. Positive ground cars would
> lean one way and negative ground cars the other.
>
> Regards, Trevor Jordan
> 74 TR6 CF29281U
Foul! Trevor obviously is biased toward the Neg to Pos current flow and
is therefore not eligible to answer the question. Therefore Trevor must
spend the next 25 years in the penalty box.
Plus, the theory about "automobile battery list" is not rational because
as we all know, the added weight caused by the accumulation of electrons
or holes in the battery is compensated for by the pumping of oppositely
charged particles by the alternator or generator, which balances the
system.
However, let it be known that positive ground cars typically use right
hand steering and negative ground cars almost always have left hand
drive. This too helps compensate for the gravametric effects caused by
polarized waves emitted by the electrical system. This in part helps
explain the earlier thread of why some countries drive on one side of
the road as opposed to the other.
So you see, if you beat on a subject long enough, it's likely to expect
that you will beat it into submission.
Joe (techno-speak) Curry
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