Metal Atoms & flow of electric current through them (mechanism)?

[chandragupta]

The atoms in a metal like all atoms have electrons with negative charge (I.e. having negative quantity of electricity ) & protons with positive charge (I.e having positive quantity of electricity ). However,atoms in a metal have a unique relationship with their neighboring atoms I.e. they can interchange their outer-most electrons with each other. This means that outer most electrons can jump from one atom to the next atom. If these negatively charged electrons jump in the same direction from one atom to the next at the same time, the result is the continuous flow of electric current. In this flow of electric current via the metal-atoms, the positively charged protons in the nucleus act as a link to pass on the charge from inner electron to the outer electron thus completing the circuit.Your thoughts?

[Wilmot McCutchen]

The positive charges in a conductor are immobile, but the conventional current direction is as if they could move. See http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Conventional_current#Current More interesting is the case where the positive charges are ions, whose motion in a vortex creates theta pinch in plasmas.

[chandragupta]

1352481203[/url]' post='712541']

The positive charges in a conductor are immobile, but the conventional current direction is as if they could move. See http://en.wikipedia....current#Current More interesting is the case where the positive charges are ions, whose motion in a vortex creates theta pinch in plasmas.

 

Thanks. From your answer am I to imply that proton inside metal- atom does not play any role whatsoever in the onward propagation of electric current & in this enterprise I.e. onward propagation of electric current through the metal-atom, all the labour & the credit belongs & goes to electrons in the metal- atom? Your further thoughts?

[Enthalpy]

Further thoughts:

 

Inner electrons are generally considered immobile, with only "outer" electrons contributing to the current.

 

Shared electrons not only jump from one atom to the next. Even before any electric current, they are shared by all the atoms in the piece of metal. A piece of metal can be viewed as a single molecule.

 

Mobile electrons in a solid do not behave as in vacuum. Especially, their mass differs, and can also be negative, which lets them behave unexpectedly in the Hall effect. People introduce then "holes" with a positive charge and mass as these behave normally and allow simpler reasoning.

[chandragupta]

1352908402[/url]' post='713256']

Further thoughts:

 

Inner electrons are generally considered immobile, with only "outer" electrons contributing to the current.

 

Shared electrons not only jump from one atom to the next. Even before any electric current, they are shared by all the atoms in the piece of metal. A piece of metal can be viewed as a single molecule.

 

Mobile electrons in a solid do not behave as in vacuum. Especially, their mass differs, and can also be negative, which lets them behave unexpectedly in the Hall effect. People introduce then "holes" with a positive charge and mass as these behave normally and allow simpler reasoning.

 

Thanks for the further insight you have provided.