Imagine you have two metal plates that are parallel to each other, and one is positively charged ad the other is negatively charged. The direction of the electric field created by these two charged places is from the positive toward the negative plate. (Imagine placing a positive test charge int he field… which way would it go? Away from the positive plate and toward the negative plate… so that’s the direction of the electric field.) Now imagine connecting the two plates with a metal wire. What do you think would happen?

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The positive charges on the positive plate would flow toward the negative plate, evening out the charge until they were both at the same charge, and then there is no electric potential difference between the two. It’s like connecting a hose between two cups filled with different levels of water. The water flows out of the cup with more water into the one with less until they both even out. When the charges even out, there not charge flow because there’s no electrical potential difference.

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