ELECTRIC CURRENT

The amount of positive charge equals the amount of negative charge and therefore an atom always behaves neutrally.

If an electron is removed from a neutral atom, this atom becomes positively charged and is called a Positive ion. On the other hand, if an electron is added to a neutral atom, it becomes negatively charged and is called a Negative ion. Thus atoms which have lost or gained one or more electrons are called Ions.

Between any two ions, there exists a stress or field of force. Similarly charged ions repel whereas disimilarly charged ions tend to attract each other. Generally, this field of force is called the electric, dielectric or electrostatic field.

The movement of ions arising from the presence of this field is called the Electric Current.