system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
ELI5: How exactly does electricity "know" to not flow backwards in a transmission line (or circuit)back to the source? Why does it move in one direction?
gpt
Similar to air flowing through a hose on a machine, the end it's coming from has something pushing it along (a generator). This generator is making a voltage potential, and the place it's going to has a potential of 0 (it goes into the Earth after going through your stuff). Just like that high pressure air wants to go to where there's low pressure to even out.