Displacement Current

Displacement current is a concept introduced by James Clerk Maxwell to explain how changing electric fields can produce magnetic effects, similar to actual electric currents. When an electric field changes over time—such as in a capacitor with a fluctuating voltage—there's no physical charge moving between the plates. Instead, the electric field itself behaves as if it were a current, called displacement current. This idea helps unify electricity and magnetism theories, ensuring Maxwell's equations hold true even in situations where charges aren’t physically flowing, like in electromagnetic waves or changing fields.