# Conventional vs. Electron Flow Electronic Usage **URL:** \ **Category:** Factual Questions\ **Created:** [November 4, 2016, 7:29pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636 "2016-11-04T19:29:22Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 6\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 5:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636/21 "2016-11-08T17:23:00Z")
Too bad Franklin didn’t study current flow a bit better. Leyden jars had been around a few years and he knew how to produce quite a spark. He also apparently knew that sharp points produced bigger sparks. If he had tested producing sparks between a sharp point and a round object, he would have noticed that it was easier to get a spark when the point has a negative charge (as we know it) and the round thing had a positive charge. And the spark might jump around when hitting the round object. Seems like a demonstration that _something_ is flowing the opposite direction from his chosen direction. And we could still have a right-hand rule if we called the end of the magnet that points to the north pole the south end. So we’d also get rid of this nonsense that the magnetic “north” pole is actually a south pole. ---
**Author:** ![Leo\_Bloom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/leo_bloom/32/10377_2.png) [@Leo\_Bloom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Leo_Bloom)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636/22 "2016-11-08T18:42:57Z")
> [@Chronos](#): > > [Other alternatives to the right-hand rule](https://xkcd.com/199/) Exactly. 🙂 Add the face plant Californian hitchhiker. ---
**Author:** ![Chronos](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chronos/32/134_2.png) [@Chronos](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chronos)\ **Post date:** [November 8, 2016, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636/23 "2016-11-08T19:27:57Z")
> [@](#): > > And we could still have a right-hand rule if we called the end of the magnet that points to the north pole the south end. So we’d also get rid of this nonsense that the magnetic “north” pole is actually a south pole. In exchange for the nonsense that the end of a freely-spinning magnet that points towards Canada would then be the south pole. Since there are a lot of freely-spinning magnets but only one Earth, I’m not sure that’s a net benefit. ---
**Author:** ![MonkeyMensch](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@MonkeyMensch](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MonkeyMensch)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 11:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636/24 "2016-11-10T23:14:27Z")
As a quick follow-up to all and sundry, The Art of of Electronics arrived today and It’s looks like I’ve bitten off a good sized chunk. But I’m good with that. I have a solid math background and it looks like some of this stuff is what I would have been studying had I gone on to graduate work in Computer Science. I like going in deep (like aerodynamics) so here goes… ---
**Author:** ![Crafter\_Man](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/crafter_man/32/458_2.png) [@Crafter\_Man](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Crafter_Man)\ **Post date:** [November 10, 2016, 11:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636/25 "2016-11-10T23:55:39Z")
> [@MonkeyMensch](#): > > The Art of of Electronics arrived today… Excellent book. I would also suggest getting [The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Analog-Circuit-Design-Engineers/dp/0750670622/) and [Troubleshooting Analog Circuits](https://www.amazon.com/Troubleshooting-Analog-Circuits-Design-Engineers/dp/0750694998/). ---
**Author:** ![beowulff](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beowulff/32/542_2.png) [@beowulff](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/beowulff)\ **Post date:** [November 11, 2016, 1:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636/26 "2016-11-11T01:34:16Z")
> [@Crafter\_Man](#): > > Excellent book. I would also suggest getting [The Art and Science of Analog Circuit Design](https://www.amazon.com/Science-Analog-Circuit-Design-Engineers/dp/0750670622/) and [Troubleshooting Analog Circuits](https://www.amazon.com/Troubleshooting-Analog-Circuits-Design-Engineers/dp/0750694998/). And “[Intuitive IC Op Amps](https://www.amazon.com/Intuitive-Amps-Basics-Useful-Applications/dp/9997796675)” if you can find a copy for a reasonable price… [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/conventional-vs-electron-flow-electronic-usage/770636.md?page=1)