How far does electricity travel per millisecond?

Question

The actual question is: Determine how far electricity travels in 7 ms. Express your answer in miles.
I'd really appreciate the help. And please not just the answer, show me how to figure it out also. Thanks.

Answer 1

Well, how fast does electricity travel? The answer is, of course, the speed of light. So look up the speed of light in miles per second.

Now you want to figure out how far light goes in 1 millisecond. There are 1000 milliseconds in a second, so divide the miles/second figure by 1000.

And now to get your answer - multiply the speed per millisecond by 7. Presto! ou know how far the electricity has gone.

Best wishes and God bless.

Answer 2

Actually, the speed of electric current in a wire isn't the speed of light at all -- it's much much faster!!! Yes, you heard me right, it's faster than the speed of light. Why? Because there's a difference between current and electron flow.

Basically, current signals are not a constant flow of electrons, but waves in an electrical medium (such as a copper wire), and waves can propagate at a speed much greater than the medium itself. Imagine, for a moment, that you clap your hands. The sound wave travels around 750 mph from your hands to my ear -- but there's certainly not a bunch of air hitting you that fast, or you'd feel it. The same is true of electric current: the drift velocity of the electrons might only be about 1 mm/sec, but the waves of current are much, much, faster.

So it's not just a matter of the speed of light! It depends on *exactly* what the question is asking for.

For more information, check out these articles. Good luck!

Answer 3

Only electromagnetic waves travel the speed of light. As Jay S has pointed out, electic current is much slower. The speed depends on the material the current is passing through. The fastest speed will be through a good metal conductor. I will take Jay S 's word for it that that speed is 7in per nanosecond (light travels at about 12in per nanosecond), Through semiconductors, however, the speed is slower and depends on the voltage applied. This is called the "drift velocity" and is determined by the "mobility" of the charge carriers.

Answer 4

In an ideal situation electricity would travel essentially at the speed of light = 186,000 miles a second but there is a thing called resistance which "slows" it down and it depends on what kind of wires are used. Lightening (which is also electricity) is the closest to light speed, it is only slowed down by the resistance of the air.

Answer 5

According to the dictionary, electricity travels at the speed of light which, in meters, is 299,792,458 meters per second. A millisecond is 1/1000 that so now you have 299,792.458 meters traveled so now you need 7 ms so we multiply that by 7 and you get 2098547.206 meters traveled. There are 1609.344 meters in a mile according to Webster's you divide it out and get 1303.97768 miles.

Answer 6

However the speed of the electrons is very high, the drift speed is only about 1 mm/s.
distance = speed x time = 1mm/s x 7 ms = about 7 micrometer.
Miles is a little bit bizarre here.
By the way, this is physics.

Answer 7

The question is either poorly worded, or deceptive. (see the first reference listed below.)

What is probably being asked here is the speed of a signal through a wire. You will have to reference your own texts to determine what number your instructor is expecting. My own direct experience as a digital component test engineer tells me that signals propagate at seven inches per nanosecond.

there are one million ns per ms, so:
7" * 7,000,000 = 49,000,000 inches.

there are 63,360 inches in a mile so:

49,000,000 / 63,360 = 773.359 miles

Answer 8

Ideally, electricity travles at the speed of light. But in real life, there is always resistance in its path which slows it down because it loses energy. Electrons traveling bounce into other electrons which slow it down. So we actually consider something called drift velocity which is much much slower. Because of the other electrons (in the copper wire for example) the electrons bounce back and forth back and forth back and forth back and forth.

Answer 9

speed of light =

186,000 miles per second

thats the same as 186 miles per millisecond (divide both by 1000)

186 * 7ms = 1302 miles

Answer 10

well electricity travels at the speed of light in a vacuum (empty space) which is 186,282 miles per second. So it would tavel at

186,282/1000 miles per second. Which is about:

186.3 miles per millisecond

times 7 it's 1304 mi