I believe that a low-frequency or dc current is roughly transmitted
uniformly across the cross-section of the wire. In the case of high
frequency currents there are field effects that cause the current to
move to the outside of the wire. This is called the skin-effect and is
discussed in electrical energy books. WBN
jlewis@GLENBROOK.K12.IL.US 03/22/00 04:44PM >>>
Hi Folks,
I'm in a bit of confusion now about the movement of charge (electrons)
in a wire. My belief is that if a wire were connected to some sort of
emf current should flow throughout the entire wire. I have a colleague
in electronics who maintains that the charge travels only on the
exterior surface of the conductor.
As I think of the stranded wire in my house I think of speaker wire etc
that might experiece a high frequency alterration of the emf and thus
current, does most of the charge that moves at high frequency prefer the
external surface of the wire?
And what about resistance being proportional to the cross sectional
area. Shouldn't that support the concept that the field is set up
throughout the conductor?