Question

Conventional current is the direction of electric current from the positive terminal of a cell to the negative terminal.
(A) True
(B) False

Answer 1

Hint: The direction of the current refers to the direction of decreasing potential. This direction does not refer to the actual direction of flow of electrons but refers to the assumed direction of flow of positive charges, which is known as the conventional current. It is also the direction of decreasing potential.

Complete step by step answer Earlier, before the discovery of the atomic structure of particles and the advent of sophisticated microscopes, it was assumed that positive charges flow and that the electric current we know about was due to the flow of those positive charges from the positive terminal of a battery to its negative terminal. Due to this the direction of conventional current is from the positive terminal of the cell to the negative terminal.
After the advent of proper microscopes, and researchers discovering that in the case of electric charge flowing through wires, the electrons in the valence band take part in the charge conduction, it was established that the actual flow of charges is opposite to the assumed direction of the conventional current flow. This is because of the paradigm shift in the knowledge that the flow of direct current is due to the electrons with a negative charge and not due to the positively charged protons, as they do not move. It is a known fact that nucleons do not partake in charge transfer, current flow, or conduction.

Therefore, the correct answer is option (A) True.

Note In a battery chemical energy is converted into electrical energy. In this process, a direct current flows outside the battery from the positive terminal to the negative terminal (electrons flow from the low potential negative terminal to the higher potential positive terminal). The direction of current inside the battery is the opposite.