Why is the electric current is from cathode to anode?

Question

In a galvanic cell, the electrons flow from anode to cathode. But it is said that the direction of electric current is from cathode to anode. What's the reason?

Answer 1

in olden days, the scientists thought that it was the protons that moved form one terminal of teh cell to another, thus they concluded that conventional current flows from positiver to negative.

later they discovered that it was electrons that moved from an atom to another, but they didnt bother to change the old convention and they declared that while electronic current flowed from negative to positive, conventional current flowed from positive to negative(though it is just imaginary).

Answer 2

Current although the flow of electrons, it is not defined that way. it is defined as the flow of positive charges. this stems back to before electrons were known about and they thought electrical current was just that. (how wrong they were!) somethings just need to be understood and this is one of them. this has more applications in physics than chem

Answer 3

current is the FLOW OF ELECTRONS.since electrons are  GIVEN OUT by CATHODE & ACCEPTD by ANODE , the direction of flow is from C TO A.

Answer 4

good question actually electron move from anode to chathode but holes moves form cathod to anode so in general we study that current move from cathod to anode

Answer 5

Both of the original statements in your question are correct, but should include information about the location of this current flow.  Is it inside the battery, or outside of the battery?

A galvanic cell is another name for a battery.

Chemical reactions inside the battery push electrons toward the negative side of the battery which is called the cathode. In the circuit outside of the battery, electrons flow from the negative part of the circuit (connected to the cathode) to the positive part of the circuit( attached to the anode).

This is not a confusion with "conventional current flow" which is proton flow, but a standard normal "electron current flow" .

Answer 6

there are two types of cell, a galvanic and an electrolytic cell. galvanic cell produces electricity and the flow of electrons is from anode to cathode. the flow of elctron is actually driven by the difference in potential of the electrodes.

in electrolytic cell which uses an external power source to drive the flow of electrons, the flow is opposite, from cathode to anode. the one you are talking about is an electrolytic cell.

note: actually, the assigning of the cathod and anode is just a convention so that the people of earth will be electrode specific.