Drift velocity in a current-carrying metallic conductor
Description
The drift velocity is the average velocity that a particle, such as an electron, attains due to an electric field. In general, an electron will 'rattle around’ randomly in a conductor at the Fermi velocity. An applied electric field will give this random motion a small net velocity in one direction. In a right-cylindrical current-carrying metallic conductor, where the charge-carriers are electrons, the drift velocity is depended basically on the properties of the metallic conductor.
Related formulasVariables
| vdrift | drift velocity of the electrons (m/s) |
| M | molar mass of the metal (kg/mol) |
| V | voltage applied across the conductor (V) |
| d | density of the conductor (kg/m3) |
| NA | Avogadro constant |
| l | length of the conductor (m) |
| e | atomic unit of charge |
| f | number of free electrons per atom (dimensionless) |
| ρ0 | resistivity of the conductor at 0 °C (ohm*m) |
| α0 | temperature coefficient of resistivity of the conductor at 0 °C (K-1) |
| T | temperature of the conductor (K) |