Im having a bit of trouble drawing a circuit with a diode in. I know the current flows from negative to positive, but convention says that current goes from positive to negative.
When drawing a circuit with a diode do you draw the arrow pointing to the positive (matching the actual flow of electrons) or towards the negative terminal (matching conventional current)?
If you follow convention then surely when building circuits from the diagram the diode will not allow current as it is actually facing the incorrect way?
Answer
In normal circuit analysis, we almost never think about which way the electrons are flowing. We nearly always calculate and visualize how the "conventional current" is flowing.
In the case of a diode (to simplify things somewhat---see Steven's answer for some special cases), conventional current flows through the diode from the anode to the cathode; that is, conventional current flows in the direction that the "arrow" of the diode symbol is pointing.
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