The Positive and Negative Terminals

The most common electronic item composing of positive and negative terminals are the batteries. 

If you have a toy, flash lights or any electronic gadgets then they are all powered by batteries which needs to be fitted according to their designated terminals. 

Failure to put them in the correct setup can damage your electronic device and it will never work.

There are various types of batteries with different shapes, sizes and voltage ratings. These are designed by the manufacturer in various forms to fit on the electronic device. 

Take a look at the battery of your mobile phone and compare them from the battery of another different brand. Surely, it is different and won’t fit if you try to use your battery on them.

All batteries and electronic devices powered by DC (Direct current) always have a sign which allows you to determine the Positive and Negative terminal. 

The positive sign should be indicated by this symbol “+” while negative is “-“. 

If no such symbols can be found then it might be in the form of a color code where the red indicates the positive terminal while black for the negative terminal.

How do electric current flow from those terminals?

We are to use flash light as an example. If you are to turn the switch ON, a chemical reaction takes place inside the battery where electrons are produced. 

Electric current will be generated out from the battery and it will flow starting from the positive terminal. The current will then flow through the bulb and back to the negative terminal.