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No. Three types of speed must be distinguished here:

1. The random movement of electrons is pretty fast, but still only a fraction of the speed of light. They will have this movement, whether there is a current or not.

2. The drift velocity is the average velocity of electrons when there is a current. This velocity is typically a fraction of a millimeter per second.

3. The velocity of the electric signal itself is typically about 2/3 the speed of light in a vacuum (that is, about 200,000 km/sec). What happens here is that energy is transferred from one electron to another. Imagine one electron bumping into another and pushing it forwards.

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Object traveling through the speed of light?

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Are calculators at the speed of light?

A calculator can only operate as fast as the electrons that carry the current through its circuits. Electrons have mass, and mass can never travel at the speed of light; therefore, calculators do not operate at the speed of light.


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No, electric current is the flow of electrons through a conductor, but the individual electrons do not move at near the speed of light. Instead, the speed of electron movement in a conductor is typically much slower.


What is it that travels through an electric circuit at nearly the speed of light?

the wave front of electric current. the electrons themselves move much slower but they keep pushing electrons ahead of them on resulting in a wavefront that moves at almost the speed of light.


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How fast do electrons travel?

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Why are electrons travel at greater than speed of light in television?

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What is the speed of electrons in the beam?

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How fast do electric currents move?

Yes, typically about 2/3 of the speed of light in a vacuum - that is, about 200,000 km/sec. Note that the drift speed of the electrons is only a fraction of a millimeter per second, and the random speed of electrons is faster, but still much slower than the speed of the CURRENT.Yes, typically about 2/3 of the speed of light in a vacuum - that is, about 200,000 km/sec. Note that the drift speed of the electrons is only a fraction of a millimeter per second, and the random speed of electrons is faster, but still much slower than the speed of the CURRENT.Yes, typically about 2/3 of the speed of light in a vacuum - that is, about 200,000 km/sec. Note that the drift speed of the electrons is only a fraction of a millimeter per second, and the random speed of electrons is faster, but still much slower than the speed of the CURRENT.Yes, typically about 2/3 of the speed of light in a vacuum - that is, about 200,000 km/sec. Note that the drift speed of the electrons is only a fraction of a millimeter per second, and the random speed of electrons is faster, but still much slower than the speed of the CURRENT.


Is the speed of light faster than the speed of electrons?

yes, of course.