Talk:Anode

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in the electrlytic process used to plate copper onto a material, the material is the cathode or anode

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)

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)

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)

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)