Thread: how do electrons know if the path we provide them is grounded or not?

so at the most basic level, charged electrons desire to be in a neutral state, if we provide a path for them to travel that is grounded, then they will travel along that path and we will make them do work for us along their way. i am confused as to how they know if a a path is grounded or not, say you make a basic circuit that is not grounded, the charged particles will not travel through the circuit until you have a ground....so how do they just magically know if the circuit is grounded or not? its not like they send scouter particles to verify if its grounded or anything...

also, i dont understand how they know weather a path they will travel is complete or not, for instance, say you have electricity traveling through a copper wire, if you cut that wire in half, then the electricity stops flowing through it, the electricity does not continue traveling through the wire and end up flying out the cut end, they simply dont travel through it anymore....how do they know????

All physical systems have a tendency towards that configuration which provides the lowest possible state of energy. A cut wire, or a closed circuit without ground or battery, are already in that state of lowest energy, so all points of such setups are sitting at the same potential. Hence no current. On the other hand, if you have a difference in potential ( in whatever way you achieve that ), then electrons will tend towards that configuration which gives them the most favourable state of energy.

This is admittedly a little wishy-washy, but I think you get the idea.

I think I may get it. The ground state of a car in traffic is to take up any space in front of it, and doesn't need to know whether the bridge ahead is up or down.

Originally Posted by GiantEvil

I think I may get it. The ground state of a car in traffic is to take up any space in front of it, and doesn't need to know whether the bridge ahead is up or down.

Yes...not a bad analogy

The answer is a little more complicated. An electronic state must be formed before electrical current can happen. This is not understood by status quo science, developed in a vacuum not considering the now priven and accepted dark matter. Dark matter affects all physical processes and in its absence lies mystery in evry avenue of physics and cosmology.
My book "Dark Matter, antimatter, and galaxies" explains how electronic state is formed...

Originally Posted by Mudd

The answer is a little more complicated. An electronic state must be formed before electrical current can happen. This is not understood by status quo science, developed in a vacuum not considering the now priven and accepted dark matter. Dark matter affects all physical processes and in its absence lies mystery in evry avenue of physics and cosmology.
My book "Dark Matter, antimatter, and galaxies" explains how electronic state is formed...

What do you mean by the "electronic state" that must be "formed" before an electrical current can pass? Is this something to do with the solid state physics of conduction bands and so on? This is a fairly well worked-out area of physics. Are you familiar with it?

Mudd, as you are only 17 (according to your profile) I'll offer you some advice. Try learning some science before attempting to rewrite it, you are on the path of the crackpot but you are young enough to change.