Drift Velocity

And Current Density

  DRIFT VELOCITY

FORMULAS:

• (Drift Velocity) m/s

• (Current) amps

Where:
Drift Velocity

• The charge carriers (which are usually,

but not always, electrons) have a charge
(q) and move through the material at a
velocity (v). This velocity is called the
drift velocity.

Current

• ‘Current’ means the rate at which

electric charge flows past a point in a
circuit.
 
CURRENT DENSITY

Formulas:
•
•

Where:
 Example #1
A certain copper wire with a diameter of 4.0 mm carries an electric
current of 6.0 A. Assume the density of copper is and the atomic mass
of copper is 63.5 g/mol.

(a)Calculate the electric density (J)

𝐽  =4.77 𝑥 105 A /𝑚2

(b) Calculate the drift velocity (v)

  m/s
 Example #2
An Aluminum wire with a cross sectional area of carries a current of 5 A. Find the drift
velocity of the electrons in the wire, assuming each aluminum atom contributes on electron.
The density of aluminum is .

Given:

Solution:
Find n. We find from the periodic table that the atomic mass of Al is 26.98 g/mol. Since 1
mol of a substance contains Avogadro’s number

xxx(

Find v.
Thank you and God bless!