Re: why + ground

Posted by KEB on May 01, 2007 at 18:58:49 from (72.19.170.5):

In Reply to: why + ground posted by james in mo on May 01, 2007 at 12:59:28:

If anyone finds a good profession reference which explains this, I'd be very interested. I've looked a number of time & never found anything more than speculation.

Having done a little work at one time on protecting dis-similar metals against galvanic corrosion, I don't think the direction of current flow through a structure such as an automobile body would have a noticeable effect on the longevity of the structure.

Confusion over the nature of electrical flow doesn't make sense either. The nature of current transfer in metals was well understood long before negative ground became a de-facto standard. Conventional current flows from positive to negative, and in some conductive materials the charge carriers actually are positively charged ions and physically move from positive to negative. In metals, the charge carriers are electrons, which carry a negative charge, and physically move from negative to positive. Blame Ben Franklin for the confusion...he had a 50% change & got it wrong.

I suspect that selection of negative as the structural reference (i.e., "ground") was probably the result of whoever introducted the first popular installation did it that way. As I say, though, I can't find anything to confirm that supposition or provide another answer. The engineer in me would love to find a definitive answer.

Keith

Replies:

• KEB: Some (But Not All) the Answers (Long Post!) A. Bohemian 20:46:50 05/01/07 (0)

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