Leumas Physics

Charge Carrier Drift Speed

v = I/(n_d·A·q)

What it says

How slowly charge carriers actually crawl along a wire, even though the signal is near light speed.

Symbols

SymbolQuantityDimension
vDrift speed (m/s)L T^-1
ICurrent (A)I
n_dCarrier density (1/m^3)L^-3
ACross-sectional area (m^2)L^2
qCarrier charge (C)T I

Work it out

Enter what you know. No account needed.

Fill in all but one: I, n_d, A, q, v are all empty.

Filed under Electromagnetism · derive through it in the explorer