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The Speed Of Electric Current

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Date : 13/12/2018

Author Information

Sergej

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