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Reavenge
modified 9 years ago

What sense does it make

1
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00:14:59
Hey, I have seen such a circuit in some community material and I don't unterstand, how current can flow in this. I thought circuits must be closed by a wire. #newbee
published 9 years ago
Tropert
9 years ago
Hey, this is due to the ground. The ground is the potential reference (0 V) of your circuit. You can see them as if they were connected. In real life, they are. I hope my answer is clear.
Reavenge
9 years ago
Does it mean, that even if the two grounding points have an infinitive distance to each other and are lokated in different groundings, a current would flow?... If that make sense^^
Reavenge
9 years ago
Or easyer formulated: how can the electrons find theyer way back through the ground?
thebugger
9 years ago
Ground is an imaginary wire with an infinite current sinking potential (ideally). In reality ground connections are imperfect, and are used differently for different circuits. High power circuits, typically use earth ground, low power noise sensitive circuits typically use a ground rail (a common point that connects all parts of the circuit). Sometimes ground is even required to be excluded, in which point the circuit is floating. Historically in old telephone systems, the return wire has been excluded, by substituting it with two metal rods, buried deep in the grouns, many kilometers away. But as I said, noise sensitive circuits usually avoid this method, and the one wire system was quickly abandoned, due to the low Signal to Noise ratio. Furthemore earth ground qualities, vary very much with the weather. In dry weather, the ground is a very poor conductor for instance
AndyHoffmann
9 years ago
Hi. I posted for you an example circuit here: http://everycircuit.com/circuit/4772616980398080 The ground symbol is just a referencepoint. You can put 2,3,4.... referencepoints in your circuit, it's always the same ground. You can also delete your second ground symbol and connect your resistance to the first ground symbol to close your circuit.
Reavenge
9 years ago
Wow thanks Guys! I try to get my head around that amount of information. I'm pretty sure the answer to my problem is included in that. I appreciate that very much
thebugger
9 years ago
The hardest part to grasp for me, was that the Earth (the soil itself) is conductive much like a wire, and given the huge area it poses, it can pretty much sink big amounts of current effortlessly without raising its potential.

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