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how does electricity propagate in a conductor?

how does electricity propagate in a conductor?

Grade:11

1 Answers

Mukesh Sharma
askIITians Faculty 43 Points
10 years ago
It is anEM wavethat travels at c < C, where C is light speed in a vacuum. And they do reflect internally. That's the nature of something calledwave guidesfor example. They are constructed to reflect the EM waves inside just like light would be reflected off mirrors. A common device using wave guide technology is in some radar transmitters and their antennae that are wave guides to focus the EM waves transmitted as radar beams.

So called coax cables are also wave guides. These are designed to prevent the EM waves carrying your TV signals from leaking out into the ambient space.

You are right about the electrons. They are thefree electronsthat make up the current in a circuit. They travel more or less around 20,000 km/s, depending on the material and the voltage potential. It's the electromotive force imposed by the EM wave on the free electrons that gets the electrons to move, which is called electron drift. That means all the free electrons in a circuit get moving right away when the switch is turned on because that wave is traveling at c < C, almost the speed of light in a vacuum.

Thanks and regards
askIITians faculty
mukesh sharma

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