Compare the direction of the average electric field inside a battery to the direction of the electric field in the wires and resistors of a circuit.

Short Answer

Expert verified

The average electric field inside a battery and the field in the wires and resistors of the circuit are both directed from the positive terminal to the negative terminal of the battery.

Step by step solution

01

Given data

Electric field is present both inside a battery and outside in the circuit.

02

Direction of electric field

A electric field flows outwards in case of the positive charge and inwards in case of the negative charge.

03

Comparison of the electric fields outside and inside the battery

A battery has a positive terminal and negative terminal. Both inside the battery and outside, the electric field is directed from the positive terminal to the negative terminal. The electric field outside in the circuit causes the flow of charges. The electric field inside the battery doesn't cause the flow of charges.

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Most popular questions from this chapter

In the few nanoseconds before the steady state is established in a circuit consisting of a battery, copper wires, and a single bulb, is the current the same everywhere in the circuit? Explain.

Criticize the statement below on theoretical and experimental grounds. Be specific and precise. Refer to your own experiments, or describe any new experiments you perform: “A flashlight battery always puts out the same amount of current, no matter what is connected to it.”

A Nichrome wire 48 cm long and 0.25 mm in diameter is connected to a 1.6 V flashlight battery. What is the electric field inside the wire? Why you don’t have to know how the wire is bent? How would your answer change if the wire diameter change were 0.20 mm? (Not that the electric field in the wire is quiet small compared to the electric field near a charged tape.)

In the circuit shown in Figure 18.91, all of the wire is made of Nichrome, but one segment has a much smaller cross-sectional area. On a copy of this diagram, using the same scale for magnitude that you used in the previous question for Figure 18.90, show the steady-state electric field at the locations indicated, including in the thinner segment. Before attempting to answer these questions, draw a copy of this diagram. All of the locations indicated by letters are inside the wire.

(a)On your diagram, show the electric field at the locations indicated, paying attention to relative magnitude. Use the same scale for magnitude as you did in the previous question.

(b)Carefully draw pluses and minuses on your diagram to show the approximate surface charge distribution that produces the electric field you drew. Make your drawing show clearly the differences between regions of high surface charge density and regions of low surface-charge density. Use your diagram to determine which of the following statements about this circuit are true.

(1) There is a large gradient of surface charge on the wire between locations Cand E. (2) The electron current is the same at every location in this circuit.

(3) Fewer electrons per second pass location Ethan location C.

(4) The magnitude of the electric field at location Gis smaller in this circuit than it

was in the previous circuit (Figure 18.90).

(5) The magnitude of the electric field is the same at every location in this circuit.

(6) The magnitude of the electric field at location D is larger than the magnitude of the electric field at location G.

(7) There is no surface charge at all on the wire near location G.

(8) The electron current in this circuit is less than the electron current in the previous circuit (Figure 18.90).

During the initial transient leading to the steady state, the electron current going into a bulb may be greater than the electron current leaving the bulb. Explain why and how these two currents come to be equal in the steady state.

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