All Questions
Tagged with electricity conductors
30
questions
68
votes
9
answers
89k
views
Does electricity flow on the surface of a wire or in the interior?
I was having a conversation with my father and father-in-law, both of whom are in electric related work, and we came to a point where none of us knew how to proceed. I was under the impression that ...
- 783
2
votes
2
answers
2k
views
Is there no electric field inside a conductor?
I came across this statement while studying electric currents and I am confused:
"There is no electric field inside a conductor. Hence no current can flow through it".
Is there a fallacy in this ...
- 447
29
votes
5
answers
29k
views
Why is there an electric field in a wire even though it is a conductor?
If you take a perfect conductor, there cannot be a field across it since if there were, the particles would arrange themselves in a way to cancel out the field right?
Yet, why does the same not hold ...
- 1,585
4
votes
3
answers
22k
views
How can I calculate the wave propagation speed in a copper wire?
First of all: I am a computer science student, so I don't have much knowledge of physics. So please keep your answers simple.
I recently learned something about circuit design and its problems (...
- 913
27
votes
6
answers
14k
views
Why do metals have free electrons?
Throughout my highschool classes, I have been made to learn that metals have free electrons that's why they are able to conduct electricity.. But I never understood why. Is that related to metallic ...
- 468
4
votes
10
answers
37k
views
What is the dielectric constant of a pure conductor?
Dielectric constant is the ratio of permittivity of a medium to the permittivity of free space. How to find dielectric constant of a conductor?
- 237
3
votes
4
answers
15k
views
How does the drift velocity of electrons in a conductor depend on the temperature?
How does the drift velocity of electrons in a conductor depend on the temperature?
I have two contradicting views for this.
First, we can say that increasing the temperature of the conductor will ...
- 1,582
45
votes
5
answers
61k
views
Speed of light vs speed of electricity
If I arranged an experiment where light raced electricity what would be the results? Let's say a red laser is fired at the same time a switch is closed that applies 110 volts to a 12 gauge loop of ...
- 4,711
12
votes
2
answers
16k
views
Where do all these electrons come from? [duplicate]
I'm a high school student and I'm fairly familiar with basic electronics, but I've always wondered one thing.
So how generators make electricity from motion is the move a magnet around or through a ...
- 919
11
votes
9
answers
91k
views
Why is the charge transferred by electrons and not by protons?
Charges are transferred by electrons which we all know. But why can't it be transferred by protons? Well, I searched on Google where I found similar questions already being asked on many sites. ...
- 2,565
11
votes
4
answers
17k
views
Is a signal traveling through fiber faster than a signal traveling through copper?
Does the transmission medium affect the speed of a signal? For instance does light traveling through a fiber cable get a bit from $A \implies B$ faster than copper can transmit a bit the over the same ...
- 211
5
votes
2
answers
115k
views
Why is stainless steel a poor conductor of electricity?
I recently had a metal plate put in my shoulder and was wondering why stainless steel isn't a good conductor (At least I hope it isn't). Does the alloy just lack free electrons? Why is that?
user24082
5
votes
4
answers
2k
views
What do we mean when we say an electron collides with a molecule or atom?
When current flows through a conductor, it is said that the flowing electrons collide with the molecules or atoms of that conductor which causes resistance. The collision of electrons with molecules ...
- 269
4
votes
1
answer
23k
views
Why don't you get electrocuted when you jump and touch an electric fence?
I've read that you won't get electrocuted if you jump and touch an electric fence because you aren't closing the circuit with the ground. Which is also why birds don't get electrocuted when they're ...
0
votes
3
answers
1k
views
Heating of an non-ohmic conductor
So I know that if you increase the voltage across a wire then the current will increase. But an increase in current leads to a increase in heat production though $P=I^2R$, but as the temperature ...
- 273