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The Speed Of Electric Current
the article is of interest for schoolchildren
Date : 13/12/2018
Author Information
Uploaded by : Sergej
Uploaded on : 13/12/2018
Subject : Physics
There is a well-known statement that the speed of the
electric current is equal to the speed of light and is 300 thousand kilometers
per second. An electromagnetic wave
travels in a vacuum as fast as light. An electric current is a flow of electric charge. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by moving
electrons in a wire. But can we say that the electrons in the conductor
fly at the speed of light? Not, we can t say that the electrons in the
conductor move at the speed of light.The fact that the electrons begin to move one after
another at the speed of light does not mean that the electrons themselves move
in the conductor at such a great speed. Electrons or ions, in a metal
conductor, in an electrolyte or in another conductive medium, cannot move so
fast, that is, charge carriers do not move relative to each other at the speed
of light. The speed of light
in this case is the speed at which the charge carriers (moving electrons) in
the conductor begin to move one after another, that is, the speed of propagation
of the translational motion of the charge carriers. The charge carriers
themselves have a "drift speed" with a steady current, say in a
copper conductor, only a few millimeters per second!If electrons moved in wires at the speed of light, in
this case, the modern electric power industry would be impossible in the usual
form. If electrons moved on wires, flying 300 000 kilometers per second, it
would be necessary to solve very difficult technical problems.At this speed, the electrons will not be able to follow
the turns of the wires. Dispersed on a straight section, the charged particles
will fly out tangentially as cars do not fit into the bend. To keep the
electrons flying at cosmic speeds inside the energy highways, it is necessary
to supply the wires with electromagnetic traps. Each section of the wiring will
be similar to a fragment of the Hadron Collider.
This resource was uploaded by: Sergej