Assume We have a simple electrical circuit with a DC Source of constant emf. And I am talking about the ideal case. The circuit also consists of "Push-Key" or a normal switch whatever you like.
The circuit has wires of negligible resistance.
Initially the battery is not inserted in the circuit.
At t=0 , We insert the battery with the switch open
According to me what happens is......
The battery's positive terminal attracts the electrons from the wire that are connected to it externally. Now the electrons that are at the positive terminal are pushed towards the negative terminal against the Lorentz force (That is what a battery does right?) edit : inside the battery
And then The electrons are released by the negative terminal of the battery in the wire connected to it externally.
As the switch is not closed, there should be no electric field (circuit is not complete so the wire acts like a conductor would) inside the wires and these charges therefore accumulate on the surface of the wire.
This process Happens very fast and up until the switch.
One side of the switch has negative surface charges, and the other positive surface charges..
Also the surface charges that are being set up start creating their own repulsive forces for the incoming electrons...Reducing further flow until the switch ( They wont flow across the switch as the circuit is not complete) This thing also explains the leakage current for me. Some surface electrons somehow jump the gap.
The setup process stops when the potential of the wires becomes equal to the terminals it is connected to (In the ideal case.. Wires with negligible resistance)
In the image switch is denoted by the open circuit.
Also, I read somewhere that even small disturbances in the electron sea can set up the surface charges.
So this process is really quick and does not require much energy.. Hence no energy loss of battery or something like that
And this is how surface charges are set up....
Now, At t= T , we close the switch... The surface charges on either side (near the switch not everywhere in the circuit) neutralize each other causing a net field inside the wire and current starts flowing. (I read this thing somewhere)
So, is there anything I understand wrong about surface charge setup? Battery is the active element in the circuit and so it makes sense that its terminals should affect the wire electrons is some way(Even if circuit is incomplete).
The Image is just the representation of what I am saying. Focus on the surface charges and not anything else.