How far do electrons actually move along a conductor under an alternating current?












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This is more or less a curiosity question. But I have had really good luck with stack exchange so far. If I can expand on my question a little bit - it may not be super important, but I know under say a typical household circuit, under alternating current, all wires are under either 120v or 240v single phase power at 60 htz. Each htz being one cycle going from (I believe) 0v to +120 v back to 0v to -120v and back 0v. My query is basically, between say our start at 0v and the first crest at +120v, and we'll say for simplicity this is occurring on a standard household 12 AWG size wire, how far do the electrons manage to move along the conductor? is it just a few inches? is it a couple feet? fractions of an inch? Would this change substantially if it were 240v single phase or say the 480v phase voltage you'd get between phases of a wye transformer?



Final note: I am not the best with most scientific equations. Some simple ones maybe but if your answer is in the form of like a set of logarithmic equations it would be appreciated if you could maybe "dumb down" the answer for me :)






condensed-matter electric-circuits electrons electric-current conductors







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    1












    $begingroup$


    This is more or less a curiosity question. But I have had really good luck with stack exchange so far. If I can expand on my question a little bit - it may not be super important, but I know under say a typical household circuit, under alternating current, all wires are under either 120v or 240v single phase power at 60 htz. Each htz being one cycle going from (I believe) 0v to +120 v back to 0v to -120v and back 0v. My query is basically, between say our start at 0v and the first crest at +120v, and we'll say for simplicity this is occurring on a standard household 12 AWG size wire, how far do the electrons manage to move along the conductor? is it just a few inches? is it a couple feet? fractions of an inch? Would this change substantially if it were 240v single phase or say the 480v phase voltage you'd get between phases of a wye transformer?



    Final note: I am not the best with most scientific equations. Some simple ones maybe but if your answer is in the form of like a set of logarithmic equations it would be appreciated if you could maybe "dumb down" the answer for me :)






    condensed-matter electric-circuits electrons electric-current conductors







    share|cite|improve this question











    $endgroup$















      1












      1








      1





      $begingroup$


      This is more or less a curiosity question. But I have had really good luck with stack exchange so far. If I can expand on my question a little bit - it may not be super important, but I know under say a typical household circuit, under alternating current, all wires are under either 120v or 240v single phase power at 60 htz. Each htz being one cycle going from (I believe) 0v to +120 v back to 0v to -120v and back 0v. My query is basically, between say our start at 0v and the first crest at +120v, and we'll say for simplicity this is occurring on a standard household 12 AWG size wire, how far do the electrons manage to move along the conductor? is it just a few inches? is it a couple feet? fractions of an inch? Would this change substantially if it were 240v single phase or say the 480v phase voltage you'd get between phases of a wye transformer?



      Final note: I am not the best with most scientific equations. Some simple ones maybe but if your answer is in the form of like a set of logarithmic equations it would be appreciated if you could maybe "dumb down" the answer for me :)






      condensed-matter electric-circuits electrons electric-current conductors







      share|cite|improve this question











      $endgroup$




      This is more or less a curiosity question. But I have had really good luck with stack exchange so far. If I can expand on my question a little bit - it may not be super important, but I know under say a typical household circuit, under alternating current, all wires are under either 120v or 240v single phase power at 60 htz. Each htz being one cycle going from (I believe) 0v to +120 v back to 0v to -120v and back 0v. My query is basically, between say our start at 0v and the first crest at +120v, and we'll say for simplicity this is occurring on a standard household 12 AWG size wire, how far do the electrons manage to move along the conductor? is it just a few inches? is it a couple feet? fractions of an inch? Would this change substantially if it were 240v single phase or say the 480v phase voltage you'd get between phases of a wye transformer?



      Final note: I am not the best with most scientific equations. Some simple ones maybe but if your answer is in the form of like a set of logarithmic equations it would be appreciated if you could maybe "dumb down" the answer for me :)






      condensed-matter electric-circuits electrons electric-current conductors




      condensed-matter electric-circuits electrons electric-current conductors






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      edited 2 hours ago









      Qmechanic♦

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      103k121851174










      asked 3 hours ago









      ElectricianPatElectricianPat

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          The electric field travels through wires at practically the speed of light. However, the velocity of individual electrons, known as their drift velocity, is VERY small, on the order of 0.04 mm/s. For more information on this, and a drift speed calculator, see http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html






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            Conduction electrons move at very high speeds of millions of meters per second. These speeds cancel out in the absence of a field. When an electric field is applied electron drift results with a very small velocity $v=mu E$. $mu$ is the mobility. Typical values are of the order of micrometers per second. To calculate the distance traveled due to an alternating field you need to specify $E = V/l$ where $l$ is the length of the conductor. Note that alternating voltages are given in rms values and that the peak value is $sqrt{2}$ times higher. Finally the maximum displacement is $d_{max} = frac{1}{2pi f}sqrt{2}mu V/l$. $f=50 Hz$.






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              $begingroup$

              The electric field travels through wires at practically the speed of light. However, the velocity of individual electrons, known as their drift velocity, is VERY small, on the order of 0.04 mm/s. For more information on this, and a drift speed calculator, see http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html






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                4












                $begingroup$

                The electric field travels through wires at practically the speed of light. However, the velocity of individual electrons, known as their drift velocity, is VERY small, on the order of 0.04 mm/s. For more information on this, and a drift speed calculator, see http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html






                share|cite|improve this answer









                $endgroup$
















                  4












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                  4





                  $begingroup$

                  The electric field travels through wires at practically the speed of light. However, the velocity of individual electrons, known as their drift velocity, is VERY small, on the order of 0.04 mm/s. For more information on this, and a drift speed calculator, see http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html






                  share|cite|improve this answer









                  $endgroup$



                  The electric field travels through wires at practically the speed of light. However, the velocity of individual electrons, known as their drift velocity, is VERY small, on the order of 0.04 mm/s. For more information on this, and a drift speed calculator, see http://hyperphysics.phy-astr.gsu.edu/hbase/electric/miccur.html







                  share|cite|improve this answer












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                  share|cite|improve this answer










                  answered 3 hours ago









                  David WhiteDavid White

                  4,0931619




                  4,0931619























                      1












                      $begingroup$

                      Conduction electrons move at very high speeds of millions of meters per second. These speeds cancel out in the absence of a field. When an electric field is applied electron drift results with a very small velocity $v=mu E$. $mu$ is the mobility. Typical values are of the order of micrometers per second. To calculate the distance traveled due to an alternating field you need to specify $E = V/l$ where $l$ is the length of the conductor. Note that alternating voltages are given in rms values and that the peak value is $sqrt{2}$ times higher. Finally the maximum displacement is $d_{max} = frac{1}{2pi f}sqrt{2}mu V/l$. $f=50 Hz$.






                      share|cite|improve this answer











                      $endgroup$


















                        1












                        $begingroup$

                        Conduction electrons move at very high speeds of millions of meters per second. These speeds cancel out in the absence of a field. When an electric field is applied electron drift results with a very small velocity $v=mu E$. $mu$ is the mobility. Typical values are of the order of micrometers per second. To calculate the distance traveled due to an alternating field you need to specify $E = V/l$ where $l$ is the length of the conductor. Note that alternating voltages are given in rms values and that the peak value is $sqrt{2}$ times higher. Finally the maximum displacement is $d_{max} = frac{1}{2pi f}sqrt{2}mu V/l$. $f=50 Hz$.






                        share|cite|improve this answer











                        $endgroup$
















                          1












                          1








                          1





                          $begingroup$

                          Conduction electrons move at very high speeds of millions of meters per second. These speeds cancel out in the absence of a field. When an electric field is applied electron drift results with a very small velocity $v=mu E$. $mu$ is the mobility. Typical values are of the order of micrometers per second. To calculate the distance traveled due to an alternating field you need to specify $E = V/l$ where $l$ is the length of the conductor. Note that alternating voltages are given in rms values and that the peak value is $sqrt{2}$ times higher. Finally the maximum displacement is $d_{max} = frac{1}{2pi f}sqrt{2}mu V/l$. $f=50 Hz$.






                          share|cite|improve this answer











                          $endgroup$



                          Conduction electrons move at very high speeds of millions of meters per second. These speeds cancel out in the absence of a field. When an electric field is applied electron drift results with a very small velocity $v=mu E$. $mu$ is the mobility. Typical values are of the order of micrometers per second. To calculate the distance traveled due to an alternating field you need to specify $E = V/l$ where $l$ is the length of the conductor. Note that alternating voltages are given in rms values and that the peak value is $sqrt{2}$ times higher. Finally the maximum displacement is $d_{max} = frac{1}{2pi f}sqrt{2}mu V/l$. $f=50 Hz$.







                          share|cite|improve this answer














                          share|cite|improve this answer



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                          edited 1 hour ago

























                          answered 1 hour ago









                          my2ctsmy2cts

                          4,8542618




                          4,8542618






























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