How Does a current complete a circuit in a TT Earthing System

[fixiefitzy]

I am just starting a course to become an electrician ( 2 month in ). I like to understand how things work.

How does the current that passes down to earth via a rod driven into the ground outside your house travel through the ground to the local transformer to complete the circuit.

And how does it know what direction to travel through the earth? (please explain simply)

[spinlondon]

Current doesn't flow per se.
An electron from each molecule along the path moves from one molecule, to the next, and with a.c. moves back again when the current alternates.
The current doesn't have a choice really, it must return to the point of origin, otherwise there would be no circuit. It takes the path of least resistance, which might not necessarily be in a straight line.

[fixiefitzy]

spinlondon Thank you - Every answer creates a new question

How does the current form a circuit, I assume the point of origin is the local Transformer, How does the Transformer attract the current to it that is transferred to ground under fault conditions?

[dialect]

A TT system consists of phase and neutral conductors, with EARTH connected directly to the earth.
Electrons flow through the phase conductor only when there is a path for it. Whether it has to travel through a filament, as in a lightbulb, or an element as in a kettle, or a person via a fault, as long as there is a route for it, it will flow.
There shouldn't be any eletric flowing to earth,except in fault conditions. The better the earth the more current can flow, which should cause on overload of the MCB or fuse, resulting in it blowing/ tripping.

[spinlondon]

As dialect says, without there being a path, there can be no circuit.
Basicly the whole earth becomes a conductor, and the current takes the route whith least resistance.
This is what happened with the two horses killed recently at Newbury.
There was a fault somewhere, and the path of least resistance was through the ground near where the horses were being walked.
At some point, the legs of the horses, were aligned with the current path, and the horses became the path of least resistance over the distance between their legs.