[R-390] Current direction

[Jim Haynes]

On Fri, 20 Mar 2009, Roy Morgan wrote:

> If I remember correctly, at one time the Navy, and possibly other
> services too, taught basic electricity with the idea that the current
> flowed in the direction of electron movement.  So, the positive
> terminal of a battery would be shown with the  current *entering* that
> terminal.  Then, there was a reconciliation with the rest of the world
> and all the training materials and schematics and so on got changed.
> This likely was before WW-II: I don't have any examples of that
> convention.
>
When I was an E.E. student in the late 1950s the texts all showed
"conventional" current flow, positive to negative.  At the time we had
a lot of veterans and particularly the Navy ones were vociferous that
the texts were all wrong and that current went with the electrons,
negative to positive.  It was hard to get them to realize that it
doesn't really matter so long as you are consistent; the answers
will be the same either way.  (It's not the same as believing that
Niagara Falls will flow uphill!)