Talk:Anode

Hey, most or all of the interior (section reference) hyperlinks in this article don't work. Please fix them and delete this. Thanks.

in the electrlytic process used to plate copper onto a material, the material is the cathode or anode 68.231.188.151 (talk) 01:09, 25 August 2009 (UTC)Wrong. Try it at home. The Anode is sacrificial (oxidized);so, the metal to Be plated With is the Anode. The Cathode is being reduced (more electrons); so the negative Cathode Gets plated.68.231.188.151 (talk) 01:09, 25 August 2009 (UTC)[reply]

The part of the cathode ray tube is incorrect. The electrons flow off of the negnative terminal: http://electronics.howstuffworks.com/tv3.htm —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.187.47.144 (talk) 01:10, 18 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Not a very good reference, because although they have the CRT the right way round (as does the article), that link has the battery the wrong way round (i.e. the anode is the negative pole of a battery).20.133.0.13 (talk) 12:05, 19 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ok. As far as I can tell the Cathode-ray tube is a historical mishap, but I can't tell why. The Hall Effect (1879) unambiguously determined that electrons were the carriers of current, and the cathode ray tube was invented in 1897 (Thompson), so it's not clear to me why they would call the terminal where the electrons are coming out as the "cathode".

But, either way, the definition on this page (cathode = positive (conventional) current out (neg in), anode = positive in (neg out)) works for everything except for CRTs. Circuit diagrams (physics), electronics, galvonic cells (chemistry), electrolytic cells (chemistry), all seem to be fine with this definition. As for the CRTs, it would be nice if a historian could help fill us in on this, but you'll just have to chalk this up to a historical accident, because every page (including the wikipedia page on cahode rays/CRTs) say that the cathode is where the electrons current comes out. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.187.47.144 (talk) 01:55, 18 May 2008 (UTC)[reply]

again, the confusion is caused by the idea that electrons flow in the direction of standard electric current, they do not, they flow OPPOSITE standard electric current, the CRT diagram you quote is correct for standard current (i.e. electric feild current that can do 'work') while the electrons are released from the Cathode (either by heating 'thermionic' or by feild emission) and flow to the anode. jonathan888 - not currently signed in —Preceding unsigned comment added by 198.50.4.4 (talk) 02:53, 4 June 2008 (UTC) Jonathan888 (talk) 16:43, 5 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

The direction of Electron flow goes Cathode to Anode (not within a battery but external circuitry to the battery or power source) . To put a meter on it and read a positive voltage the black lead would be placed on the cathode while the red lead is placed on the anode. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 74.173.238.147 (talk) 15:16, 11 June 2008 (UTC)[reply]

To add too all of this, the intro is a little fuzzy. Electricity moves in both directions, electrons (negative) flow one way, and holes (positive) flow the other. So, the first sentence: "An anode is an electrode through which electric current flows into a polarized electrical device." should say that Positive current flows into a polarized device at the annode, or that negative current (or, electrons) flows out. Otherwise, one might assume that the current flowing in is referring to electrons flowing in, which, is wrong. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 75.106.174.195 (talk) 04:26, 29 November 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Ceramic anodes

The United States Army Corps of Engineers (USACE) invented ceramic-coated anodes. http://www.erdc.usace.army.mil/pls/erdcpub/docs/erdc/images/ERDCFactSheet_Product_CeramicAnodes.pdf -- Frap (talk) 14:52, 2 July 2008 (UTC)[reply]

Current does not flow

The "substance" that flows in wires and electrolytes is not "current", it is "charge". Current is defined as a flux of charges, so, saying that "current flows" is like saying that "the flux flows", or calling "current" the substance that flows in a river, instead of "water". Devil Master (talk) 22:37, 31 January 2009 (UTC)[reply]

Zener anode/cathode naming convention

The main article section indicates that the "forward bias" condition should be used for zener diodes even though you may be using them in the reverse breakdown regime:

"Note electrode naming for diodes is always based on the direction of the forward current (that of the arrow, in which the current flows "most easily"), even for types such as zener diodes or solar cells where the current of interest is the reverse current."

This seems to contradict the statement in the diode section of the article that says: "The terms anode and cathode should not be applied to a zener diode, since it allows flow in either direction, depending on the polarity of the applied potential (i.e. voltage)"

The article should be consistent, or should admit that "industry" is inconsistent on this point (in my expereince) and caution the user to understand what convention is used by the manufacturer.

Douglas 137.78.179.51 (talk) 01:35, 29 May 2009 (UTC)[reply]