What is the speed of electric current?

DWQA QuestionsCategory: General ElectricalWhat is the speed of electric current?
Dilshan asked 6 years ago
1 Answers
How Engineering Works Staff answered 6 years ago

299,792,458 meters per second.

Electromagnetic waves propagate in vacuum at a maximum speed of 299,792,458 meters per second . For a 12-gauge copper wire carrying a 10-ampere DC current, the speed of electric current (average electron drift velocity) is about 80 centimeters per hour or about 0.0002 meters per second.