... drift toward the more positive end of the conductor.
A conductor has a large number of free electrons which under sufficient voltage(electrical push) will flow in unison speed and direction. Thus creating a electrical current.
An electrical current is simply the flow of free electrons in and on the conductors. So they are a bit like water molecules in a garden hose. And like those water molecules the flow of free electrons can be physically impeded by whatever is in or on the electrical conductor. When a material is a good conductor, the atoms and molecules of that good conductor do not get in the way of the free electrons. They do not resist the flow of those electrons very much. So even with just a low voltage to push the electrons along, the flow, the current of the electrons is high. But when a material is a bod conductor, the atoms and molecules of that bad conductor do physically get in the way of those free electrons so that they cannot flow freely through the conductor. The resistance is high in a poor conductor. So it takes a relatively higher voltage to push electrons along in a bad conductor...if indeed they can be pushed at all. Some materials are so bad at conducting it's almost impossible to move those electrons along.
Electrical Conductor
Material that permits the free flow of electrons
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The term conductor is generally applied to a substance or material that has a lot of free electrons in it. The name conductor is applied because the free electrons are already there. A material does not have free electrons because it is a conductor, but is a conductor because it has a lot of free electrons. That said, let's look at what's going on. These free electrons have energies that permit them to "wander" through the conductor; they're not "locked into" the structure of the material. And when a voltage (potential difference) is applied, current flows through the conductor because the free electrons are moving. They're made to move by the applied voltage. If we take the case of a wire in a circuit, the wire is a conductor. This wire, say a copper one, has many free electrons in it, and when we apply a voltage, electrons move. The voltage forces electrons into one end of the wire, and the free electrons "shift over" and electrons emerge from the other end of the wire. This movement of free electrons in response to an applied voltage through an conductor is the essence of current flow in that conductor.
The free electrons in a conductor will, when a difference of potential (voltage) is applied at its ends, participate in electron current flow (or just current, if you prefer). The voltage applied to the conductor will drive current through the conductor, and the free electrons will support current flow. These electrons will actually move through the conductor. As electrons are driven into one end of the conductor, the free electrons "shift over" and electrons stream out the other end of the conductor. This is the essence of current flow in conductors.
Glass is an insulator, as it DOES NOT conduct current. It is a material which has no free electrons available to flow as electrical current. Conductors, like copper or aluminum, have free electrons, or electrons in the outer shells of their atoms that are easily knocked loose. These electrons flow from negative to positive when an electrical potential (voltage) is applied across the material. We call the flow of electrons "current".
The electrons in a conductor will support the movement of electric current. A conductor is defined as a material with a number of electrons in its makeup that are actually in what is called the conduction band. The conduction band is an energy level where electrons must be to permit conduction in a material. If the minimum energy in the conduction band in a material is such that a lot of electrons in that material are already at or above that level, then these electrons will be available to support current flow. Remember that electron current flow is moving electrons, and it is not about sending an electron into a conductor, like a wire, at one end and getting that same electron out at the other. It is about sending a bunch of them in at one end, and all the electrons already in the conductor move over and a bunch come out the other end. The electrons already in the conduction band within the conductor support current flow in this way.
An electrical current is simply the flow of free electrons in and on the conductors. So they are a bit like water molecules in a garden hose. And like those water molecules the flow of free electrons can be physically impeded by whatever is in or on the electrical conductor. When a material is a good conductor, the atoms and molecules of that good conductor do not get in the way of the free electrons. They do not resist the flow of those electrons very much. So even with just a low voltage to push the electrons along, the flow, the current of the electrons is high. But when a material is a bod conductor, the atoms and molecules of that bad conductor do physically get in the way of those free electrons so that they cannot flow freely through the conductor. The resistance is high in a poor conductor. So it takes a relatively higher voltage to push electrons along in a bad conductor...if indeed they can be pushed at all. Some materials are so bad at conducting it's almost impossible to move those electrons along.
An electrical current is simply the flow of free electrons in and on the conductors. So they are a bit like water molecules in a garden hose. And like those water molecules the flow of free electrons can be physically impeded by whatever is in or on the electrical conductor. When a material is a good conductor, the atoms and molecules of that good conductor do not get in the way of the free electrons. They do not resist the flow of those electrons very much. So even with just a low voltage to push the electrons along, the flow, the current of the electrons is high. But when a material is a bod conductor, the atoms and molecules of that bad conductor do physically get in the way of those free electrons so that they cannot flow freely through the conductor. The resistance is high in a poor conductor. So it takes a relatively higher voltage to push electrons along in a bad conductor...if indeed they can be pushed at all. Some materials are so bad at conducting it's almost impossible to move those electrons along.
A conductor has a large number of free electrons which under sufficient voltage(electrical push) will flow in unison speed and direction. Thus creating a electrical current.
Millions of free electrons
An electrical current is simply the flow of free electrons in and on the conductors. So they are a bit like water molecules in a garden hose. And like those water molecules the flow of free electrons can be physically impeded by whatever is in or on the electrical conductor. When a material is a good conductor, the atoms and molecules of that good conductor do not get in the way of the free electrons. They do not resist the flow of those electrons very much. So even with just a low voltage to push the electrons along, the flow, the current of the electrons is high. But when a material is a bod conductor, the atoms and molecules of that bad conductor do physically get in the way of those free electrons so that they cannot flow freely through the conductor. The resistance is high in a poor conductor. So it takes a relatively higher voltage to push electrons along in a bad conductor...if indeed they can be pushed at all. Some materials are so bad at conducting it's almost impossible to move those electrons along.
Metal is a good conductor of electricity because of the nature of its bonds. In metallic bonds the electrons form a sea of electrons, allowing them free movement when a current is applied.
Electrical Conductor
Material that permits the free flow of electrons