Question

Electric Current is a Scalar Quantity but it Possesses Magnitude and Direction. Why?

Answer 1

Hint: A stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, flowing through an electrical conductor or space is known as an electric current. It's the net rate of electric charge flow through a surface or into a control container that's monitored. Charge carriers are the moving particles, and depending on the conductor, they might be one of numerous sorts of particles.

Complete answer:
A scalar, also known as a scalar quantity, is a quantity that can be represented by a single element of a number field, such as a real number, and is frequently accompanied with units of measurement, such as "10 cm." In contrast, vectors, tensors, and other objects are characterised by a set of integers that specify their magnitude, direction, and other properties.
In physics, the idea of a scalar is essentially the same as the concept of a scalar in mathematics. Coordinate system alterations do not affect the shape of a scalar. This means that in classical theories like Newtonian physics, rotations or reflections maintain scalars, but Lorentz transformations or space-time translations preserve scalars in relativistic theories.
A scalar quantity is electric current. When a physical quantity contains both magnitude and direction, it is called a vector quantity. However, there are additional elements that influence whether a quantity is vector or scalar. The physical quantity is considered to be a vector quantity if it obeys the rules of vector addition, such as the triangle law of vector addition and the parallelogram law of vector addition. When two currents meet at a junction in the case of electric current, the resultant current is an algebraic sum, not a vector sum. As a result, although having magnitude and direction, an electric current is a scalar quantity.

Note: In physics, a vector is a quantity with both magnitude and direction. It's usually represented by an arrow with the same direction as the amount and a length proportionate to the magnitude of the quantity. A vector does not have location, even though it has magnitude and direction.