Like if turned on my light switch what speed does travel or how quick am I sending this across th Atlantic?
2007-07-26 08:54:52 · 12 answers · asked by Anonymous in Science & Mathematics ➔ Physics
there are many answers to this question, all correct, even though numerically different.
when a switch is closed in a DC circuit, current begins flowing at the other end, seemingly instantaneously. The individual electrons inside the wire are traveling at around the speed of sound. But the ones nearest the switch begin moving first. The electrons from the negative side move toward the switch, and push electrons on the other (+) side away. As soon as the first electrons move, they push the next in line and so forth. This pushing (electrons REALLY hate each other) moves very fast.
The rate at which the pushing moves through the wire is called the VELOCITY OF PROPAGATION, and for almost every kind of wire is about 67% of the speed of lih\ght in a vacuum.
Engineered cables for transmission of power and signals offer specifications for these numbers.
Photons and moving electrons are very much interrelated, its is important to note that any movement of electrons through space generates photons, it is the key to non verbal contact.
2007-07-26 09:44:23 · answer #1 · answered by disco legend zeke 4 · 0⤊ 1⤋
No it does not travel the speed of light. The speed is more a factor of the current in the wire and the size of the wire. In theory, if you had a wire that was somehow made out of electrons the speed the electrons would appear to travel would depend on the current applied to the circuit.
2007-07-26 16:30:15 · answer #2 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
HowThingsWork.Virginia.Edu explains it pretty well:
Although electricity involves the movement of electrically charged particles through conducting materials, it can also be viewed in terms of electromagnetic waves. For example, programs that reach your home through a cable TV line are actually being carried by electromagnetic waves that travel in the cylindrical space between coaxial cable's central wire and the tubular metal shield around it. These waves would travel at the speed of light, except that whenever charged particles in the wires interact with the passing waves, they introduce delays. The charged particles in the wires don't respond as quickly as empty space does to changes in electric or magnetic fields, so they delay these changes and therefore slow down the waves. The materials that insulate the wires also influence the speed of the electricity by responding slowly to the changing fields. The fastest wires are ones with carefully chosen shapes and almost empty space for insulation. In general, the less the charges in the wire respond to the passing electromagnetic waves, the faster those waves can move.
2007-07-26 16:01:15 · answer #3 · answered by YubNub 2 · 1⤊ 0⤋
Some fraction of the speed of light in a vacuum. But not at c.
Although the movement of electrons is associated with electricity, electricity itself is not the movement of electrons. Rather, it is the transfer of electrical energy that is associated with the movement of electrons. Electrons don't move very fast in a conductor, but electrical energy does move close to the speed of light.
Its actual speed depends on the material of the conductor.
How fast your internet data travels across the Atlantic depends on factors that are more significant, like the processing speed of the servers and routing switches.
2007-07-26 16:30:21 · answer #4 · answered by ╡_¥ôò.Hóö_╟ 3 · 1⤊ 1⤋
I believe it's around a third of the speed of light. Though it's never a constant speed because it depends on what kind of wire the electricity is flowing through, and whether we're talking about AC or DC.
2007-07-26 16:02:15 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Electricity travels 2/3 the speed of light. In other words, 124,000 miles per second.
Light is a Electromagnetic wave. Electricity is not a Electromagnetic wave. Electricity is when electrons get passed around, and Electrons are matter. Matter cannot go the speed of light.
Look it up.
2007-07-26 16:00:10 · answer #6 · answered by Jimbomonkey1234 3 · 2⤊ 1⤋
Electricity is the result of consecutive collisions of electron to electron during their motion. Here we have a moving electrical power, being transfered via a concuductor,which is the result of an electrical moving force.
The electron move at a max velocity of =4.19 x10 ^5 meters /seconds
2007-07-26 16:20:19 · answer #7 · answered by goring 6 · 0⤊ 0⤋
At the speed of light, or close to it.
Electrons can travel at a few mm/sec.
2007-07-26 16:05:10 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋
Well there is no electric speed. Although there is the speed of the current.
Energy flows very fast, yet an electric current is a very slow flow.
the electric current flows about three inches per hour!
weird huh.
2007-07-26 16:03:15 · answer #9 · answered by luckyplaya23 2 · 0⤊ 3⤋
yes...it is near the speed if light
2007-07-26 15:57:24 · answer #10 · answered by Anonymous · 0⤊ 0⤋