Why is plus on top?

[Ian Fritz]

Grant --

Well, I think you go back to Ben Franklin's early electrical experiments for
the answer to this. At the time, there was no way to look at elementary
particles, so Franklin had to make a guess as to which way the elementary
electrical particles were flowing. His guess was that particles were flowing
from what we know as the positive battery terminal, through the circuit, to
the negative terminal. We still follow that convention for current. However,
of course, it turned out that the elementary electrical particle -- the
electron -- flows in the opposite direction. This was accounted for by
calling the electron's charge negative, rather than changing the convention
for current flow.

So current flows from top to bottom, but unfortunately the electrons go in
the opposite direction. If Franklin had guessed the other way, electrons
would have positive charge and current flow and particle flow would be in
the same direction.

  Ian



----- Original Message -----
From: "Grant Richter" <grichter at execpc.com>
To: "Synth DIY List" <synth-diy at node12b53.a2000.nl>
Sent: Sunday, April 16, 2000 10:31 AM
Subject: Why is plus on top?


> Here is a really stupid question thats been bugging
> me for years.
>
> Yes I know it's like why is north at the top of a map.
> It just is.
>
> But, what historical decisions lead up to putting
> the minority carrier at the top of the page. I mean
> if you follow the hydraulic analogy, the electrons
> should flow down from the top of the page.
>
> Anybody got any anecdotes?
>