Average Drift Speed of Electrons – Rankers Physics
Topic: Current Electricity
Subtopic: Relation between Current and Drift Velocity

Average Drift Speed of Electrons

Estimate the average drift speed of conduction electrons in a conductor of cross-sectional area \(10^{-7}\text{ m}^2\) carrying current of \(1.5\text{ A}\). The number density of conduction electrons is \(8.5 \times 10^{28}\text{ m}^{-3}\).
\(2.2\text{ mm s}^{-1}\)
\(1.1\text{ mm s}^{-1}\)
\(3.3\text{ mm s}^{-1}\)
\(0.1\text{ mm s}^{-1}\)

Solution:

Using the formula for drift velocity \(v_d = \frac{I}{n e A}\), we substitute the given values: \(v_d = \frac{1.5}{8.5 \times 10^{28} \times 1.6 \times 10^{-19} \times 10^{-7}} \approx 1.1 \times 10^{-3}\text{ m/s} = 1.1\text{ mm s}^{-1}\).

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