displacement current

Changing electric flux

Displacement current is a quantity in electromagnetism that accounts for changing electric fields in Maxwell's equations, allowing them to predict electromagnetic waves.

Unlike ordinary current, it involves no actual flow of charge—it represents the rate of change of an electric field through a surface.

The displacement current in a charging capacitor completes the circuit mathematically even though no electrons cross the gap.

Maxwell

Ampère's law

Current creates magnetic field

electric fieldRegion affecting nearby charges
polarizationSeparation into opposing extremes
permittivityElectric polarization capacity

dielectric · vacuum · flux · continuity · boundary conditions · electromagnetic waves · free space · divergence

capacitor

dielectric

Polarizable electrical non-conductor

chargingRestoring electrical power
electric fieldRegion affecting nearby charges
capacitanceElectrical charge storage measure

polarization · insulator · phase shift

wave-propagation

electromagnetic waves

Self-propagating field oscillations

radiationEnergy propagation through space
lightVisible electromagnetic radiation
radio wavesLow-frequency electromagnetic radiation

antenna · waveguide · transmission · oscillation · frequency · wavelength · photon · electromagnetic spectrum

displacement current

Ampère's law

dielectric

electromagnetic waves

displacement current

Opposites

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