News for hackers. Stuff that matters.

A comment on Visualizing Electricity. Parent comment

Re:Visualizing Electricity by mickfaraday on Monday May 11, 2020 @02:35PM (#23145437)
Yes, the main advantage over those models is that it uses atoms that are essentially shaped and moving as atoms do.

Perhaps the gearbox of your car is a relatable phenomenon for you. The breath mints are shaped like gears lol.

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Visualizing Electricity by jillesvangurp on Monday May 11, 2020 @05:31PM (#23147339)
Perhaps a better analogy is Newton's cradle: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Newton%27s_cradle

The ticking beads don't really move but transfer energy to each other. That's maybe a more useful analogy than the notion of beads or water moving through some pipe.

I'm not a physicist of course but I get that what was explained to me in high school (many decades ago) was probably a bit of an oversimplification. Ticking beads lose some energy as they smash into each other. Hence thin wires heat up and glow.

This is probably cringe-worthy enough for anyone who actually studies this for a living; so I'll stop right there ;-)

[ Parent | on HN ]
Re:Visualizing Electricity by mickfaraday on Monday May 11, 2020 @11:17PM (#23150253)
Same idea but momentum is angular in our model. Like the gearbox of a car.
[ Parent | on HN ]