Current Is NOT the Flow of Electrons — The Truth Will Shock You | Feynman
Everything your physics teacher told you about electricity is incomplete, and the truth is far stranger than you were led to believe. In this video, we tear apart one of the most common misconceptions in science, the idea that electrical current is simply electrons flowing through a wire like water through a pipe. The real story involves electromagnetic fields, nearly motionless charge carriers, energy traveling through empty space, and a historical naming accident that still confuses students today.
We break down exactly why electrons in a copper wire drift at barely one millimeter per second, yet your light switch responds in nanoseconds. We explain where the energy in a circuit actually travels, and the answer will genuinely surprise you. We cover what resistance truly means at the atomic level, why conventional current points in the opposite direction to electron motion, how current inside a battery is carried by ions rather than electrons, and what is really happening at the surface of a wire when charge flows through it.
Whether you are a curious beginner or someone who thought they already understood circuits, this video will permanently change the way you see every wire, every switch, and every electrical device around you.
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