Which statement correctly describes the direction of conventional current with respect to terminals?

Which statement correctly describes the direction of conventional current with respect to terminals?

• A. From the positive terminal to the negative terminal.
• B. From the negative terminal to the positive terminal.
• C. There is no defined direction.
• D. It alternates with each cycle.

Answer: (A)

Conventional current is defined as the direction that positive charge would move in a circuit. In a DC source, this means current is considered to flow from the positive terminal through the external circuit to the negative terminal. So, when a battery powers a resistor, the current leaves the battery’s positive terminal, goes through the resistor, and returns to the battery’s negative terminal. Note that the actual charge carriers in most wires are electrons, which move from negative to positive, but the conventional current direction is defined opposite to that. The other possibilities don’t fit: a fixed DC circuit has a defined direction from positive to negative, and alternating current would reverse direction over time, which isn’t implied when talking about terminals in a steady DC scenario.

Conventional current is defined as the direction that positive charge would move in a circuit. In a DC source, this means current is considered to flow from the positive terminal through the external circuit to the negative terminal. So, when a battery powers a resistor, the current leaves the battery’s positive terminal, goes through the resistor, and returns to the battery’s negative terminal. Note that the actual charge carriers in most wires are electrons, which move from negative to positive, but the conventional current direction is defined opposite to that. The other possibilities don’t fit: a fixed DC circuit has a defined direction from positive to negative, and alternating current would reverse direction over time, which isn’t implied when talking about terminals in a steady DC scenario.