Abstract

There is great misconceptions and confusion about how energy is transmit-

ted by electric currents.The electric current carries no energy. It is the photon

energy current within current-carrying conductors that transmits electrical en-

ergy. The magnetic ﬁelds surrounding current-carrying conductors play no part

in electrical energy transmission. A simple classical derivation of Ohm’s law is

given. The working of the Zn/Cu Galvanic cell is examined; it is shown to be a

photon generator.

Basic Electricity And Photon Energy Current.

Chan Rasjid Kah Chew

chanrasjid@gmail.com

http://www.emc2fails.com

31 May 2024

Glossary: photon. The term photon is here used to mean an apulse in the author’s

aether SUT theory [1]. All radiations are aether apulses; an apulse is a single electric

polarization wave of the aether of exactly one wavelength. It may be treated as the

quantum photon.

1 Introduction.

There is great misconceptions and confusion about how the electric current carries

energy. This confusion is not conﬁned only to the common folk, but happens even

within the physics academia, with physicists and electrical engineers holding doc-

toral degrees. The common misconception is that electricity, speciﬁcally the electric

current, carries electrical energy. This is wrong. Even thought the electric current in-

volves physical electron drifts within a conductor,it transmits no energy. This indeed

would be surprising given that our daily electrical appliances rely on the electric cur-

rent that comes from our home power supply. This paper oﬀers a rigorous argument

as to why the electric current does not transmit energy. Though the electric current

does not transmit energy, it accompanies every transformation of electrical energy to

other forms or when ‘electricity’ does work.

The author has two earlier papers [2, 3] which propose that current-carrying con-

ductors transmit energy through photon energy currents within the conductor itself

and not through the mediation of the magnetic ﬁelds surrounding the conductor as

what is currently taught in schools. In a section below, an argument in greater detail

would be given to refute the the mainstream explanation based on the magnetic ﬁeld

invoking the Poynting’s theory. This paper also explains the working of a typical Gal-

vanic cell which favors the argument for the photon energy current concept.

volt

Figure 1: Coulomb electric potential at points A, B of charge C.

2 The Electric Current Transmits No Energy.

In the author’saether Simple Uniﬁed Theory(SUT)[1],our universe is fundamentally

electric in nature. The only material of the universe is the electrical charge with states

of either positive(+) and negative(-). The material of the aether may be considered

to be a superposition of equal positive and negative charge densities. The basic SUT

theory (currently) assumes matter is formed only from atoms that are composed of

only protons and electrons. The neutron is just another state of hydrogen

H.There is

only one universal force in nature and it is the Coulomb electric force. SUT dismisses

the notions of the nuclear strong force and the electro-weak force.

There are only three forms of energy in nature, viz the Coulomb potential energy,

kinetic energy and radiations(waves in the aether). What is commonly referred to as

electrical energy is in fact the Coulomb electric potential energy. It will be shown that

the way electrical energy is transmitted through conductors is that the energy source

would transform the potential energy into photons which enters the conductor as an

energycurrentﬂow. The photon isthe actual physicalcarrier of electricalenergy. More

details would be shown in the later sections.

The electric potential isdeﬁned basedon theCoulomb’s law. The Coulomb poten-

tial V

at a point distance r from a charge Q would be given by:

4πϵ

where ϵ

is the permittivity of free space.

Figure 1 shows a typical case as to how changes in electric potential energy comes

about. It shows two points A, B with potentials of V

, V

about a positive charge of Q

at C. A charge of −q at A has a greater potential energy then a charge of −q at B. If a

charge of −q moves from point A to point B, traversing whatever paths,there is a loss

of potential energy given by:

= −q(V

− V

); (1)

being negative indicates a loss of energy in the change in position of the charge

−q. As energy is conserved, the lost potential energy is either transformed to kinetic

energy or dissipated as radiations or photons.

volts

copper wire

current i

∆x

typical wire element ∆x

∆x

dc source

Figure 2: A constant voltage DC source across a long wire.

Figure 6 shows a typical case of a constant DC voltage source connected to a re-

sistive load which is a long wire; the voltage may be that from a battery. The middle

∆x is a typical element of the wire. With a constant voltage diﬀerence across the wire,

the current i(assuming conventional current with positive free charges) is constant

throughout the length of the wire. As the amount of charge entering the element ∆x

is the same as the amount of charge leaving the element, the amount of free charge q

in the element ∆x is a constant. As the electric potential ϕ at ∆x is also a constant,the

potential energy of q in ∆x is given by:

E = q × ϕ (2)

The equation (2) applies for any inﬁnitesimal element ∆x of the conductor. The inte-

gral sum:

(q × ϕ)∆x for the whole wire would give a constant amount of potential

energy carried by the free charges within the wire. The conclusion here is that the

electric current ﬂow in the wire does not change the total potential energy of the free

charges of the conductor wire.

It can easily be shown that the electric current ﬂow also does not change the total

kinetic energy of the conductor wire. Assuming that the wire is at a thermal equilib-

rium with the environment, the internal kinetic energy of the conductor due to the

lattice vibrations is a constant. As the average drift velocity of the free electrons in the

conductor is a constant, its contribution to the kinetic energy of the conductor, too, is

a constant. The conclusion here is that the electric current ﬂow in the wire does not

change the total kinetic energy of the conductor wire.

In the circuit of Figure 6, it may be shown that the DC power source is supply-

ing energy to the conductor wire as Coulomb potential energy as derived earlier with

equation (1). The rateof charge ﬂow into the left element ∆xis

∆q

∆t

. The rate ofcharge

ﬂow out of the rightelement ∆x is also

∆q

∆t

. As the potentialenergy of ∆q at the left el-

ement is ∆qV

and that at the right is ∆qV

,the rate at which the total potential energy

changes due to the current ﬂow is:

∆q

∆t

− V

); (3)

With conventional currents, ∆q > 0 and (V

− V

) < 0. This gives a negative rate

change in potential energy due to the current ﬂow. The equation (3) represents the

rate at which the source is supplying power to the load. It is equation (3) which gives

us the familiar power equation:

W = IV ; (4)

If the source is a battery,the voltage and current would be steady in the short term.

This would mean that the source would be replenishing the energy loss as long as the

current is ﬂowing; the source supplies energy as what the load demands. A compari-

son may be made if the source is a charged capacitor; in this case the current will stop

after the capacitor has fully discharged its stored potential energy. The battery, on the

other hand, is a dynamic source of electrical energy; it converts energy stored in its

chemical constituents to electrical potential energy ‘on demand’.

Figure (6) illustrates the typical situation where an energy source would supply

energy to the load if it is connected to the source through electrical conductors. An

electric current would then ﬂow whose value would depend on the resistance of the

load. The reason why electric current ﬂows across a conductor which has a voltage

diﬀerence is the principle of nature seeking a minimal - the minimal energy principle

in this case. The free electrons would move from a higher potential energy seeking a

lower energy states just as water ﬂows downwards; thus the electric current.

As energy is conserved,the input energymust either bestored or dissipated. It has

been shown that the conductor wire has no increase in kinetic energy. Also, the poten-

tial energy of the free electrons in the conductor remains steady. By energy conserva-

tion,the only way the supplied energy enters into the conductor without changing the

kinetic energy of the conductor and the potential energy of the free electrons would

be for the potential energy being transformed into photons entering the conductors as

an energy current.

The physical mechanism of energy transmissionby a current-carrying con-

ductor is through photon energy ﬂow within the conductor. The electrical en-

ergy source transforms Coulomb potential energy fully into photons that ﬂows

into the conductor. The energy conversion is triggered by the electric current

ﬂow in the conductor.

As mentioned earlier, there is a great misconception as to how electric current

transmits energy. Mainstream electric circuit theory rarely mentions that the energy

implied in equation (4):W = IV is Coulomb potential energy. Most texts in electro-

magnetism would introduce the idea that electrical energy is transmitted by current-

carrying conductors through the magnetic ﬁelds surrounding the conductor,invoking

the Poynting theorem. There is no clariﬁcation as to how electrical energy,speciﬁcally

the Coulomb potential energy, could be transferred to the magnetic ﬁelds and trans-

mitted hundreds of miles away by high voltage cables.

2.1 The Photon Current Within The Conductor

The idea that energy is carried by photons within current-carrying conductors should

not come as a surprise. We know that all photons(ignoring gamma ray emission from

nuclear interactions) are emitted by bound orbital electrons in atoms when they fall

from higher energy states to lower states. The photons generated travel across empty

space (the aether) until they meet with matter when they may be absorbed by the

orbital electrons of atoms. This is how energy from the sun reaches the earth through

radiations.

The bulk of solid matter is almost 100% empty space. Within a solid, the nucleus

of atoms or molecules occupy the lattice nodes. The nucleus may classically be con-

sidered as point particles having almost no volume. The space within matter is no

diﬀerent from the space in outer space which is basically empty - empty of atoms. Al-

though space is empty, it is never empty of photons. Photons ﬁll all of space, whether

it is outer space or the space within solid matter. Within matter, a photon may meet

and be absorbed by an atom and then the atom may re-emit another photon. It is this

absorption/re-emission of photons within matter that is the actual mechanism of en-

ergy transmission within current-carrying conductors.

The photons entering a current-carrying conductor may be viewed to tra-

verse the conductor through the process of absorption/re-emission by the lat-

tice atoms.

All body above absolute zero emits radiations. This is because the atoms and

molecules are never at absolute rest, but vibrates about their mean positions. This

vibration constitutes the heat energy of the body; it is this thermal energy that causes

the emission of radiations. The rate of radiation increases with the body’s tempera-

ture. At room temperature, the radiation is mainly in the infrared range, 25 micron -

2.5 micron.

In general, as a free body emits energy through radiations, it is also absorbing ra-

diations from its surrounding environment. If the body’s temperature is uniform and

steady over time, ignoring heat conduction and convection(as in a vacuum), the rate

of radiation absorption is equal to its rate of radiation emission.

If a long wire is connected to a battery, the temperature of the wire would initially

rise when atoms absorb energy. When its temperature reaches a steady state, all of

the energy supplied to the wire would be fully dissipated as net infrared radiation loss

and heat conduction and convection losses. It has been shown above that the energy

supplied is all photons giving rise to an energy current entering the wire. It would be

shown in a later section that an electrochemical cell is fundamentally a photon gen-

erator(this is actually true of all electrical power generators including AC alternators

- they generate photons). In the case of a battery, the photons generated would ﬁll the

body of the battery and enters the conductor wires through both terminals. For sim-

plicity, the energy current may be assumed to ﬂow in at one end and its value is zero

at the other end.

2.2 Rate Of Radiation Loss Along Conductor Length.

Within the conductor,a photon may leave the body without being absorbed or it may

be absorbed by a lattice atom. It may be assume that, on average, a photon would

be absorbed after traveling a distance of d. As the lattice spacing of solids is in the

order of 1Å, we may make a wild guess of d = 500Å. If a photon is absorbed, the

direction in which another photon would be emitted may be assumed to be random.

If a photon is absorbed at the conductor surface, the probability that it would leave

the conductor is about 0.5. For photons within a distance of d from the surface, the

probability may be α < 0.5. For a cylindrical wire of radius r, the probability that a

photon is within the surface d layer is about 2d/r. So the probability p that a photon

would leave the conductor body is: p = 2αd/r. For aluminum core steel-reinforced

high power transmission line, the radius may be 5cm. Assuming α = 0.3, d = 500Å,

the probability is:p = 2 ∗ 0.3 ∗ 500/10

/0.05 = 6 × 10

−7

. The observation is that

most photons deeper within the conductor would be absorbed and re-emitted by the

lattice atoms without leaving the conductor body.

If we trace the photon transmission path,the speed of transmission would be near

light speed, but less, if it is assumed there is a delay in absorption/re-emission. If it is

assumed the direction of re-emission is random, then the path of transmission takes

on the typical characteristic of a random walk. The nodes of the path would have the

greatest probability to be near the origin of transmission based on the normal distri-

bution.

Initiallywhenthe source photonsentersone end ofthe conductor,the photon den-

sity would be greatest at the source end and it decreases along the conductor length as

some power is loss due to surface radiation loss; the energy current would thus lose

intensity along the conductor length. If it is assumed that the conductor has achieved

a steady uniform temperature, then the rate of power loss per unit length is uniform

along the conductor’s length as the rate of radiation is a function of its surface temper-

ature. Thus, the radiation loss is uniform along the conductor’s length. As the rate of

radiation loss is equal to

∆v

∆x

i, the rate of voltage drop along the conductor’s length is

also uniform.

Assuming a steady uniform conductor temperature,there is now the following ob-

servations for a current-carrying conductor with auniform cross-section and ofhomo-

geneous material:

1. the radiation loss per unit length of conductor is constant.

2. The voltage drop is linear along the length of the conductor.

2.3 Energy Transmission With Alternating Current.

The above analysis has been done based on direct currents, but there is no reason

why the conclusions about photon energy current being the physical mechanism of

electrical energy transmission should not apply for alternating currents.

For direct currents,the energy source is commonly the battery. For alternating cur-

rents, the source is the alternator that works based on electromagnetic induction. The

alternator has two main parts: the stator and the rotor. For power station alternators,

the stator - the stationary part - is usually the copper armature windings that connects

to the primary windings of the step-up transformer. The rotor is the magnets that re-

volves around the stator.

The photons come from within the rotating magnets that jump across the air-gap

entering the copper armature windings. This is the photon energy current source for

alternating current generations. As usual, the transmission of energy by alternating

currents is still through the photon energy current originating from the power station

alternator that ﬂows to a distant destination that may be hundreds of kilometers away.

The fact of the voltage changing directions periodically does not aﬀect the direction

ﬂow of the photon energy current.

3 Simple Classical Derivation Of Ohm’s Law.

Ohm’s law states that the constant voltage V across a conductor and the

constant current I in the conductor obey the relation I =

; R being a con-

stant, the resistance of the conductor.

Although Ohm’s law is not a precise statement,many conductors obey it through cer-

tain degree of accuracy and certain ranges of voltages, currents and temperature. It is

still an important empirical law in circuit theory.

The derivation here is made simple by assuming a metal conductor of a uniform

cross sectional area A,length l of a homogeneous metal element. Let’s have the follow-

ing parameters:

• V is the constant voltage across the conductor.

• I is the constant current in the conductor.

• A is the uniform cross-sectional area.

• l the length of the conductor.

• d is the number of free conduction electrons per unit volume.

• E is the electric ﬁeld within the conductor.

• v is the average drift velocity of the conduction electrons.

It may be assumed that the free electrons move randomly following a random

walk. On average, there is a drift velocity. Our model assumes every free electrons

to be evenly distributed in the conductor and each moving with the same constant

velocity v(v is very small in the range of millimeter per second).

We have proved earlier that the voltage drop in the conductor is linear so that the

electric ﬁeld E within the conductor is uniform: E =

. The electron drift v is a

function of E as the force acting on each electron is F

= eE; e being the electron

charge. It is further assumed that there is a resistance to the drift of the electrons and

that a constant drift velocity is reached when the force of action is equal to the friction

reaction. It is assumed that the frictional reaction is proportional to the drift velocity

v; thus:

= Kv (5)

K being the constant of proportionality dependent on the conductor material. The

current I is given by the formula:

I = dAve (6)

Substituting v from equation(5) to equation (6), we have the following:

I =

(7)

The value

is termed the conductivity of the material and its inverse is termed its

resistivity symbol ρ; ρ =

. ρ is dependent solely on the nature of the conductor

metal. The resistance of the conductor R, a constant, is given by: R = ρ

. Substitut-

ing to equation(7) gives

I =

(8)

This completes the proof of Ohm’s law.

3.1 The Magnetic Field Not Fundamental.

Currentelectromagnetisminvokes thePoyntingtheorytoexplain howcurrent-carrying

conductors transmit energy through the magnetic ﬁelds surrounding the conductor. It

may easily be shown to be wrong. The main reason is that the theory relies on just the

mathematical constructs of the electric and magnetic ﬁelds. The ﬁelds, especially the

magnetic ﬁeld, are not fundamental entities in physical nature. The truly fundamen-

tal entities in mechanics would be charge, space and time. The status of the ﬁelds in

physics are just secondary to the fundamental physical dimensions of nature.

It should be noted that the deﬁnition of the magnetic ﬁeld comes from the Biot-

Savart’slaw which relieson current elements,i.e. charge inmotion. The electriccharge

is a fundamental quantity,but not the magnetic ﬁeld. In fact,it is optional in any phys-

ical theory to choose to either be blind to the magnetic ﬁeld or to acknowledge it when

convenient. The concept of the magnetic ﬁeld is dispensable, but not so that of the

electric charge.

Theintroductory textbooks wouldshow how theforce betweentwo inﬁnitely long

parallel conductorswith separation distance R could becomputed by ﬁnding how one

conductor acts on a length element dl in the other:

2πR

dl (9)

It is done by computing the magnetic ﬁeld of one conductor with current I

on the

element dl in the other conductor and then applying the Lorentz magnetic force law:

F = q(v × B).

The same formula (9) may be derived from the form of Ampere’s law which, in

modern notation, is:

= −

4π

r[2(dl

· dl

) − 3(dl

r)(dl

r)] (10)

It is only a force law between two current elements. By applying Ampere’s law and

doing a simple integration, the exact same formula (9) is derived. What is signiﬁcant

is that there is not a need for the concept of the magnetic ﬁeld. The magnetic force is

nothingotherthentheforces betweenchargeswhen theyhaverelative velocities. Such

"magnetic"forces could befound in themore general Newtonianelectrodynamic force

law,the Webers force law [4], [5].

This shows that in our explanation as to how current-carrying conductors trans-

mit energy, the magnetic ﬁelds surrounding the conductors may just be ignored; the

magnetic ﬁeld is just a mathematical construct which may be considered to have no

physical reality. The photon energy current explanation is based on the photon which

is radiation and it is not just a pure mathematical construct; there is much empirical

evidence to suggest it may be considered to have physical reality.

Porous membrane

zinc anode

ZnSO

copper cathode

CuSO

Figure 3: A zinc copper Galvanic cell with aqueous solutions of ZnSO

and CuSO

separated by a porous membrane. When active, sulfate anions SO

2−

ﬂow accross the

membrane from the copper side to the zinc side.

4 An Electrochemical Battery Is A Photon Generator.

Inthe literatureexplaining theworkingofchemicalbatteries,nearlyall wouldbe about

the electrochemical processes and how the chemical interactions transform chemical

energy to electrical energy. Very rarely do they explain the actual physical mechanism

of energy transformations happening within the batteries. Conventional explanation

about the battery is simply just an all-encompassing statement that ‘chemical energy is

converted to electrical energy’. There is seldom any mention of what constitutes chemi-

cal energy and what constitute electrical energy when the current ﬂows and energy is

supplied to an external load.

There are only three forms of energy in nature:

1) Coulomb electrical potential energy;

2) kinetic energy;

3) radiations; radiations are photons, or energy in transition.

Chemical and electrical energies are only generic terms. When atoms combine to

form molecules,they combine to form bonds which make the compound more stable

as they have a lower energy state; energy is given oﬀ(exothermic reaction). In order to

break such bonds,energy need to be supplied(endothermic reaction). In more general

chemicalreactions,theatomsof thereactants wouldrearrange themselvestoformnew

compounds with new bonds. The reactions would always be accompanied by energy

changes.

Figure (3) is a typical Galvanic cell. When the terminals are closed by a connecting

conductor,an electric current would ﬂow from the cathode towards the anode. Within

the cell, two half-reactions would take place:

1) Oxidation of zinc metal(anode):Zn(s) → Zn

(aq) + 2e

−

2) Reduction of cupric ions(cathode): Cu

(aq) + 2e

−

→ Cu(s).

The total reaction is represented by:

Zn(s) + Cu

(aq) → Zn

(aq) + Cu(s); it is an exothermic reaction.

The energy released by the reactions are mostly Coulomb potential energy due

to the rearrangements of the various positive nuclei and the negative electrons within

the cell. Clearly, the released potential energy would be transformed to either kinetic

energy or photons.

Theconversion tokinetic energycould easily beruled outas itwould meanthe cell

would be releasing heat; this would only result in raising the temperature of the cell

and there would not be signiﬁcant energy released as energy supplied to any external

load. This is bourne out by empirical evidence as there is no signiﬁcant heat release

within a Galvanic cell - or generally with other batteries - when it is active. So the only

conclusion is that the Galvanic cell transforms electrical potential energy into photons

within the cell. This transformation occurs as long as the cell is in a closed circuit with

a conductor.

At the copper cathode, free electrons combine with the cupric ions Cu

to form

copper atoms that deposit themselves onto the copper cathode electroplating it. It is

known that free electrons within copper metal has higher energy thanany electron en-

ergy states of copper. This means the free atoms would fall from a higher energy states

to lower energy states when it become again as bonded electrons of copper atoms. As

the electrons fall towards lower energy levels,photons would be released. As the pho-

tons are release in random directions, some would leave the cathode as an energy cur-

rent; some would enter into the main body of the cell.

At the zinc anode, bonded electrons from the zinc atoms are ejected into the con-

ductor as free conduction electrons. This requires energy; the energy comes from the

zinc atom absorbing photons from the cell. Overall, there is still a surplus of photons

released by the cell’s electrochemical reactions. It is this surplus of photons that ﬂow

into both the terminals as photon energy currents supplying energy to the external

load.

An electrochemical battery is a photon generator.

References

[1] Chan Rasjid. Coulomb Electric Gravity And A Simple Uniﬁed Theory (SUT)

https://vixra.org/abs/1808.0211

[2] Chan Rasjid. Energy Current And Photoelectricity Theory

https://vixra.org/abs/2206.0154

[3] Chan Rasjid.Seebeck Eﬀect Shows Photon Energy CurrentWithinCurrent-carryingConductors

https://vixra.org/abs/2310.0149

[4] Christof Baumgärtel andSimonMaher.Foundations of Electromagnetism: A ReviewofWilhelm

Weber’s Electrodynamic Force Law.Foundations 2022, 2, 949–980.https://doi.org/10.3390/

[5] A.K.T. Assis. Wilhelm Weber: On the Energy of Interaction (translated and edited by A. K. T.

Assis) Weber’s Electrodynamics.https://doi.org/10.48550/arXiv.2009.09296