✅ Correct understanding:
Many students believe the battery directly pushes current into the circuit, like a pump pushing water.
This idea feels intuitive—but it is incorrect and causes mistakes in exams.
✅ Correct understanding:
NCERT often uses simplified language such as “current flows from the battery”, which students misinterpret.
The wording does not mean the battery creates or supplies current.
Concept Visual
🧠 Think carefully
❌ Wrong belief:
Current already exists in the circuit
✅ Correct understanding:
A conducting wire already contains free electrons.
Current is simply the motion of these existing charges, not something newly produced by the battery.
✅ Correct understanding:
The real function of a battery is to maintain a potential difference (voltage) between its terminals.
This electric field causes charges to move, producing current.
Concept Visual
🧠 Think carefully
❌ Wrong belief:
Battery = pressure, not water
✅ Correct understanding:
Just like water pressure causes water to flow,
voltage causes charge flow.
The battery does not supply electrons—it provides the driving force.
Concept Visual
🧠 Think carefully
❌ Wrong belief:
Same battery → different current?
✅ Correct understanding:
For the same battery, current changes when resistance changes.
This proves current depends on the external circuit, not the battery itself.
Concept Visual
🧠 Think carefully
❌ Wrong belief:
Battery supplies voltage, NOT current
✅ Correct understanding:
✔ Battery → maintains voltage
✔ Circuit → decides current
❌ Battery does NOT supply current
📐 Key Formula
I = V / R
⚠️ Exam Trap
Students often assume current depends only on the battery.
In questions involving changing resistance, this misconception leads to wrong answers.
