What is the difference between current and voltage?

Current and voltage are closely related properties of a circuit, one is caused by the other. What we refer to as voltage is in reality just a difference in charges, so, a difference in the amount of electrons between two places, say, two ends of a battery. Since electrons repel eachother, they will always try to flow to the place where there's less of them - this is current.

A good way to think of this is the "water analogy". We can think of a battery with voltage as one big water tank with high pressure and another with low pressure. When the two are connected, water will flow, with a bigger pipe corresponding to more water - just like a lower resistance corresponds to a higher current.

Answered by Brian C. Physics tutor

2569 Views

See similar Physics GCSE tutors

Related Physics GCSE answers

All answers ▸

What does a velocity-time graph represent?


A person swims from a depth of 0.5m to 1.7m below the surface of the sea. Denisty Sea Water = 1030 kg/m^3. g=Gravitational Field Strength = 9.8 N/kg. Calculate the change in pressure on the swimmer and give the unit.


Describe the difference between reflection and refraction (assume the mediums have smooth surfaces)


If a ball is thrown at a velocity of 5m/s, what height does it reach?


We're here to help

contact us iconContact usWhatsapp logoMessage us on Whatsapptelephone icon+44 (0) 203 773 6020
Facebook logoInstagram logoLinkedIn logo

© MyTutorWeb Ltd 2013–2025

Terms & Conditions|Privacy Policy
Cookie Preferences