1

Howfastdoeselectricitytravel?
Wellthisquestionreallyneedssomeclarification,asthetermelectricitycanbeusedinvariouswaysandtomeans
differentthings.Herewearetalkingaboutelectriccurrent.
Electriccurrentisdefinedastheorderedmovementofcharge.Thechargethatmovesin
electricitycouldbeionicchargesinaliquidoragas(right).Howevermostofususually
thinkofelectronsasthechargecarrierinelectricity.Sowewillrefinethequestion
furtherbysayingHowfastisanelectriccurrentcomprisingofmovingelectrons?.
TheunitofcurrentistheAmpere.OneampereofcurrentflowswhenoneCoulomb
passesagivenpointinacircuitinonesecond.TheCoulombistheunitofchargeasisequivalentto6.25x10
18

electrons.
Okay,letsmakethequestionreallyclear,whenwecloseaswitchinacircuitsaytoturnalightbulbon,howfastdo
electronsactuallyflowinthecircuit?
Thesimpleansweristhatelectronsinsidethewiresmoveveryslowly,almostasslowlyastheminutehandona
clock!Theexactvelocityoftheelectronswilldependonhowmuchcurrentisflowingandthetypeofconductorthat
itflowsin.
Supposealengthofcopperwireisconnectedintoaseriescircuitwithalengthofaluminiumwireofthesame
diameter.Thechargesinthecopperwillbeflowslowerthanthoseinthealuminium.Why?
Bothcopperandaluminiumhaveonemoveablechargecarrier(electron)forelectricity.Howevercopperisdenser
thanaluminium.Thereforecopperhasmorefreechargecarriersinitscrosssectionalareathanaluminium.
Alrightbutreallyhowfast?
Toworkoutacloseapproximationofhowfast
anelectriccurrentisflowinginanyconductor
weneedtoknowthechargecarrierdensity
onthematerialcarryingthecurrent.Inother
wordsthenumberoffreeelectronspercubic
measure.
Sincenothingvisiblymoveswhenelectrons
flow,wecannotmeasuretheirspeedbyeye.
Insteadweneedtodoitbymakingsome
assumptionsanddoacalculation.Let'ssaywe
haveanelectriccurrentthroughalightbulbas
showninfigure1.

100 Volts
DC
1 Ampere
Copper wire
0.1cm radius
100
Watts
Figure 1

Wewillusealightbulbof100watts.Tosimplifythemathsalittlewewillsaythebulboperatesat100VoltsDC.The
currentthebulbwilldrawwillbe1amperefor100watts;fromP=ExI,thereforeI=PE.
Wewillusecopperconductorwithadiameter(D)of0.2cmoraradius(R)of0.1cm.
Copperhasonemobile(free)electronperatom.Thenumberofmobileelectrons(oneperatom)percubic
centimetreforcopperisQ=8.5x10
22

Thecharge'e'ofasingleelectron=1.6x10
19
coulombs
{Acoulombisthenequaltoexactly6.2415096291526510
18
elementarycharges.Thereforethechargeofa
singleelectronisthen1/6.2415096291526510
18
=1.602x10
19
Coulombsroundedto3places.}
TheMathematics

2
1
V
Q e R
=

V = velocity of charges (cm/sec)

I = current in amperes
Q = number of mobile charge carriers per cc
e = charge of a single electron in Coulombs
R = radius of conductor
= numeric constant approx. 3.14159

22 -19 2
1
8.5x10 x1.6x10 x 0.1 x3.14159
V =

I = 2.S4 x 1u
-3
cmsec
I = u.uu2S4 cmscc
I = 8.42 cmbour
I = 2.u2 HctrcsJoy

Asyoucanseefromthecalculations the velocity of the electrons(whosemovement is electric current) is really slow.

Itworksoutat84millimetresperhour!Nowwhosaidelectricitywasfast?

3
ThiscalculationisforDC.ForACthevelocityoftheelectronswouldbethesamehowevertheelectronswouldmove
backandforthandnotactuallygoanywhere.Thismeansthattheelectronsinyourhouseholdwiringareprobably
thesameonesthatweretherewhenyouhousewasbuiltmanyyearsago.Maybeitstimetoconnectabatteryfora
fewdaysandflushthemout!
Note:theabovevalueforQassumesthateachcopperatomdonatesasinglemovable(free)electron.Suchisthe
caseatnormalroomtemperatures.
also
Electronsinmetalsdonotholdstill.Theywigglearoundconstantlyevenwhenthereiszeroelectriccurrent.
However,thismovementisnotreallyacurrentflow,itismorelikeavibration,orlikeahighspeedwandering
movement.
Relativity
Itisreallyabsurdtoarguethatelectronstravelatoranywherenearlightvelocity.Tofullyunderstandthisrequires
someunderstandingoftheTheoryofRelativity.Basically,onepartofthistheoryexplainsthatasanythingwithmass
(anelectronhasmass)isacceleratedtowardslightvelocityitsmassincreases(energyisconvertedtomass)andthis
massapproachesinfinitemassasitsvelocityapproachesthespeedoflight.Toaccelerateelectronsoranythingelse
toanywherenearlightvelocitywouldrequirehugeamountsofenergy,approachinginfinityasweapproachlight
speed.
Sowhydoeselectricityseemtotravelsofast?
Theactionofelectricityoverdistanceusingwiresisfastbecausetheelectrons
arealreadyinthewirewaitingtomoveandmovethroughtheentirecircuitat
once.Muchlikeapipetotallyfilledupwithmarbles.Whenanextramarbleis
placedinoneendandmarblealmostinstantaneouslydropsouttheotherno
matterhowlongthepipe.
Theeffectofelectriccurrentatadistanceisalmostinstantaneous(itcannotbe
instant)duetothedominoeffectoftheelectronchargecarriersalreadyfilling
theentirelengthoftheconductivecircuit.
Actuallythereisalittledelaybetweenrealdominoesbutimaginethemtouching
eachothershouldertoshoulderandyouwillgetthepicture.

Copyright1997topresent(revised2010)
Radio&ElectronicsSchool
Ron.Bertrand.VK2DQ
www.radioelectronicschool.net
manager@radioelectronicschool.net