"Ernie Werbel" wrote in message
news:F2plg.250$ia6.94@trndny09

Ernie,

You, like all EE students that have gone before you, will just have to
accept the way +, - and the positve direction for current are defined.
Once you recognize that it is arbitrary and doesn't really matter so
long as you are consistent, it gets a good bit easier.

The definition of the positive and negative in an electrical circuit was
originally done by Ben Franklin long before the electron was discovered.
At that time he and others understood like charged objects were
repelled, unlike charged objects were attracted and something flowed
when they allowed unlike charged objects to touch. They also understood
that there was an excess of something on one of the objects that was
equalized when you allowed objects to touch. With a 50-50 shot at
getting it right, he just picked wrong when assigning the + and -. By
the time that electons were discovered and found to be the primary
current carrier in wires, it was far too late to re-define + and -.

Now, just wait until you start learning about semiconductor theory and
hole flow.

--
James T. White