How fast does an electric field travel?
Drift velocity, the average speed at which electrons travel in a conductor when subjected to an electric field, is about 1mm per second. It’s the electromagnetic wave rippling through the electrons that propagates at close to the speed of light.
Does electric field depend on speed?
The force on a charged particle due to an electric field is directed parallel to the electric field vector in the case of a positive charge, and anti-parallel in the case of a negative charge. It does not depend on the velocity of the particle. The electric field is tangent to these lines.
Does electric current travel at the speed of light?
No. Light travels through empty space at 186,000 miles per second. The electricity which flows through the wires in your homes and appliances travels much slower: only about 1/100 th the speed of light.
What is the speed of electric current answer?
This energy travels as electromagnetic waves at about the speed of light, which is 670,616,629 miles per hour,1 or 300 million meters per second.
Do electric fields travel?
The electric field starts at the conductor, and propagates through space at the velocity of light (which depends on the material it is traveling through). Note that the electromagnetic fields do not move through space. In other words, the greater the distance from the conductor, the more the electric field lags.
Can electric field travel faster than the speed of light?
That is the disturbance of electric field can only travel slower than the speed of light. The typically speed is around few tens percentage of speed of light for a copper wire. You find the response almost instantaneous because you use only a short wire, say 1 m.
How does an electric field travel in a vacuum?
The field doesn’t travel. A disturbance in the field travels. A disturbance of the electric field in the far field approximation travels at c, the speed of light in a vacuum, c. In other words, electromagnetic waves travel at the speed of light in a vacuum, c.
How fast does electricity travel down a wire?
Electromagnetic energy and information travel down a wire at close to the speed of light. The actual electrons travel much slower. Public Domain Image, source: Christopher S. Baird. The speed of electricity really depends on what you mean by the word “electricity”.
How fast do electrons travel in a conductor?
Drift velocity, the average speed at which electrons travel in a conductor when subjected to an electric field, is about 1mm per second. It’s the electromagnetic wave rippling through the electrons that propagates at close to the speed of light.