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Physics

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    $\begingroup$ It's worth also pointing out that the increase in the velocity of the electrons in the transient state is extremely small. Free electrons accelerated across a ~10 V potential would achieve speeds of ~1000 km/s, but electrons in a wire don't come close to that. Typical drift speeds associated with electric currents are ~0.1 mm/s (even less than speeds associated with thermal motion, ~100 km/s). $\endgroup$
    – FTT
    Commented Sep 24, 2023 at 13:09
  • $\begingroup$ @FTT yes, and the time to reach the steady state is correspondingly minuscule. On the order of the size of the circuit divided by the speed of light. $\endgroup$
    – Dale
    Commented Sep 24, 2023 at 13:18
  • $\begingroup$ This actually raises another question, if the time to reach steady state is so short, how do electrons "know" to gain just enough speed to lose all potential energy in the resistance in the circuit, before they even traveled any considerable portion of the circuit? Or i guess at any point any excess kinetic energy gained above the steady state gets consumed by the resistance? $\endgroup$
    – Yevgeniy P
    Commented Sep 25, 2023 at 12:17