Electrostatics:Basic question on electric current

Question

I've got two questions for you.

1. Electric current is the flow of electrons across a conductor.Why has it always got to do with electrons and not with protons? (I know neutrons are not eligible for electricity as they carry no charge.)

2. Sometimes my computer starts properly after I disconnect all the cables and press and hold the power button for a few seconds and then re-connect all the cables (same thing with my modem). What's going on? I've heard that some amount of left over current get's drained. But where do they go? How did that excess current get accumulated in the first place?

Answer 1

Well for 1), when a voltage is applied across a conductor all the charges in the material will feel a force. So yes the protons also feel a force. But in a typical metal conductor the protons will be fixed within a lattice structure and will be unable to move under low voltages. The electrons however will be bonded must less and therefore able to move.

So it doesn't always have to be electrons, but at the beginning electrostatics things are kept simple! Different voltages, 'anti-electrons', and other things can complicate the picture.