
Measuring
current
and
voltage
BLACK
LEAD
Figure
3.7
The meter connected
to a
different part
of
the
circuit. The effect
is
the same as long as the red lead
is
correctly
connected
battery terminals. But a negative flow in one direction is
exactly
the same as a positive flow in the opposite direc-
tion (think about it!) so the two things mean the same.
However, it does mean that we must define which sort of
current we are talking about when we use the term.
Fig-
ure 3.8 defines it graphically:
conventional
current
(usually called simply current) flows from positive to
negative; electron current flows from negative to posi-
tive.
Whenever we talk