Question
Explain why current is not formed in solid conductors in the absence of electric field.
✓
Answer
→In metals, current is carried by free electrons in the background of fixed positive ions.
→In absence of electric field, the electrons will be moving due to thermal energy. During this, they collide with the fixed ions.
→An electron colliding with an ion emerges with the same speed as before the collision but the direction of its velocity after the collision is completely random.
→Thus on an average, the number of electrons travelling in any direction will be equal to the number of electrons travelling in the opposite direction.
→So, there will be no net current inside the conductor in the absence of electric field.
→In absence of electric field, the electrons will be moving due to thermal energy. During this, they collide with the fixed ions.
→An electron colliding with an ion emerges with the same speed as before the collision but the direction of its velocity after the collision is completely random.
→Thus on an average, the number of electrons travelling in any direction will be equal to the number of electrons travelling in the opposite direction.
→So, there will be no net current inside the conductor in the absence of electric field.
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