3

We always keep on telling that current flows opposite to electron, since electron is negatively charged. And old people didn't knew, that it is electron which actually flows..

So, now if we correct them and change the convention. And consider electron as positive, what will happen?

Will our laws get mutated?

Is there a reason of taking electron negative and proton positive?

Qmechanic
  • 201,751
PranshuKhandal
  • 364

1 Answers1

3

Obviously our laws have to change. Because we redefine the direction of current and leave the direction of magnetism unaffected, the result must be that right-hand rule changes into a left-hand rule. After all, reality does not change. Electrons moving in a given direction still cause the same magnetic fields.

MSalters
  • 5,574
  • will formula like lorentz force also change – PranshuKhandal Feb 25 '19 at 12:47
  • 1
    @PranshuKhandal: Yes, by the same logic. But note that in the Lorentz formula, you have both the charge of an electric particle q and the electric field E; both would flip their sign. As a result, the term q*E does not change. Particles with equal charge still repel each other, and the sign of that charge does not matter. – MSalters Feb 25 '19 at 12:54
  • @MSalters Why would the "direction of magnetism" be unaffected? – probably_someone Feb 25 '19 at 13:00
  • @probably_someone: Presumably because we'd still be using the convention that the Eath's North pole is a magnetic south pole. (Yes, that's also messed up. But that's how a magnet's north pole was originally defined: by pointing to the geographical north pole. Once we realized that this happens because magnetic north poles are attracted to magnetic south poles, we realized that we had yet another flipped definition) – MSalters Feb 25 '19 at 13:04
  • @MSalters That assumption probably needs to be made clear in the answer, then. It doesn't seem to make any less sense to have the Earth's north pole as a magnetic north pole, which would allow us to keep the right-hand rule. – probably_someone Feb 25 '19 at 13:12
  • @MSalters And for the record, it's the magnetic forces that don't change, not necessarily the direction of the magnetic fields. What we actually observe (i.e. "reality") consists of magnetic forces. – probably_someone Feb 25 '19 at 13:13