Social media is a cold world!!!
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people play too much
Signal Propagation Speed
- In most electrical circuits, what moves quickly is the electromagnetic wave that carries the signal—not the electrons themselves.
- This wave travels through conductors (like copper wires) at 50% to 99% of the speed of light, depending on the material and construction of the cable.
- Since the speed of light in vacuum is about 299,792,458 meters per second, signal speed in wires typically ranges from 150 million to nearly 300 million meters per second.
- The actual electrons move much slower. Their average drift velocity in a typical copper wire is about 0.1 mm/s to a few mm/s under normal current flow.
- This slow movement is due to frequent collisions with atoms in the conductor, but the signal itself propagates almost instantly by comparison.
- Why the Confusion? People often think electricity moves at the speed of light because lights turn on instantly when you flip a switch. That’s due to the fast-moving electromagnetic wave, not the electrons themselves.
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