{"id":86953,"date":"2025-06-01T04:24:15","date_gmt":"2025-06-01T04:24:15","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/?p=86953"},"modified":"2025-06-01T04:24:15","modified_gmt":"2025-06-01T04:24:15","slug":"with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu\/","title":{"rendered":"With reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying condu"},"content":{"rendered":"

With reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying conductor, which one of the following statements is correct?<\/p>\n

[amp_mcq option1=”It is much more than the average electron speed.” option2=”It is much lesser than the average electron speed.” option3=”It is very close to the average electron speed.” option4=”It is close to the speed of light.” correct=”option2″]<\/p>\n

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This question was previously asked in<\/div>\n
UPSC Geoscientist – 2022<\/div>\n<\/div>\n
Download PDF<\/a>Attempt Online<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n
\nThe average speed of electrons due to their random thermal motion in a conductor at room temperature is very high (on the order of 10\u2075 to 10\u2076 m\/s). When a voltage is applied, the electrons acquire a net drift velocity in the direction opposite to the electric field. This drift speed is typically very low, on the order of millimeters per second (10\u207b\u2074 to 10\u207b\u00b3 m\/s), much less than their random thermal speed.
\n<\/section>\n
\nIn the absence of an electric field, free electrons in a conductor move randomly due to thermal energy, colliding with lattice ions. Their average velocity is zero, but their average speed is high. When an electric field is applied, the electrons experience a force that causes them to accelerate between collisions. Although collisions are frequent, resulting in a zig-zag path, there is a net average velocity in the direction of the force, which is the drift velocity. This drift velocity is responsible for the electric current.
\n<\/section>\n
\nThe speed of the electrical signal or current propagation (which is essentially the speed of the electromagnetic field driving the electrons) is very close to the speed of light in the conductor, but this is distinct from the physical drift speed of the individual charge carriers (electrons).
\n<\/section>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

With reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying conductor, which one of the following statements is correct? [amp_mcq option1=”It is much more than the average electron speed.” option2=”It is much lesser than the average electron speed.” option3=”It is very close to the average electron speed.” option4=”It is close to the speed of light.” … <\/p>\n

Detailed SolutionWith reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying condu<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1091],"tags":[1108,1201,1128],"class_list":["post-86953","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-upsc-geoscientist","tag-1108","tag-electric-current","tag-physics","no-featured-image-padding"],"yoast_head":"\nWith reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying condu<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"The average speed of electrons due to their random thermal motion in a conductor at room temperature is very high (on the order of 10\u2075 to 10\u2076 m\/s). When a voltage is applied, the electrons acquire a net drift velocity in the direction opposite to the electric field. This drift speed is typically very low, on the order of millimeters per second (10\u207b\u2074 to 10\u207b\u00b3 m\/s), much less than their random thermal speed. In the absence of an electric field, free electrons in a conductor move randomly due to thermal energy, colliding with lattice ions. Their average velocity is zero, but their average speed is high. When an electric field is applied, the electrons experience a force that causes them to accelerate between collisions. Although collisions are frequent, resulting in a zig-zag path, there is a net average velocity in the direction of the force, which is the drift velocity. This drift velocity is responsible for the electric current.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"With reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying condu\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The average speed of electrons due to their random thermal motion in a conductor at room temperature is very high (on the order of 10\u2075 to 10\u2076 m\/s). When a voltage is applied, the electrons acquire a net drift velocity in the direction opposite to the electric field. This drift speed is typically very low, on the order of millimeters per second (10\u207b\u2074 to 10\u207b\u00b3 m\/s), much less than their random thermal speed. In the absence of an electric field, free electrons in a conductor move randomly due to thermal energy, colliding with lattice ions. Their average velocity is zero, but their average speed is high. When an electric field is applied, the electrons experience a force that causes them to accelerate between collisions. Although collisions are frequent, resulting in a zig-zag path, there is a net average velocity in the direction of the force, which is the drift velocity. This drift velocity is responsible for the electric current.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"MCQ and Quiz for Exams\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-06-01T04:24:15+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"rawan239\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"1 minute\" \/>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"With reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying condu","description":"The average speed of electrons due to their random thermal motion in a conductor at room temperature is very high (on the order of 10\u2075 to 10\u2076 m\/s). When a voltage is applied, the electrons acquire a net drift velocity in the direction opposite to the electric field. This drift speed is typically very low, on the order of millimeters per second (10\u207b\u2074 to 10\u207b\u00b3 m\/s), much less than their random thermal speed. In the absence of an electric field, free electrons in a conductor move randomly due to thermal energy, colliding with lattice ions. Their average velocity is zero, but their average speed is high. When an electric field is applied, the electrons experience a force that causes them to accelerate between collisions. Although collisions are frequent, resulting in a zig-zag path, there is a net average velocity in the direction of the force, which is the drift velocity. 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In the absence of an electric field, free electrons in a conductor move randomly due to thermal energy, colliding with lattice ions. Their average velocity is zero, but their average speed is high. When an electric field is applied, the electrons experience a force that causes them to accelerate between collisions. Although collisions are frequent, resulting in a zig-zag path, there is a net average velocity in the direction of the force, which is the drift velocity. This drift velocity is responsible for the electric current.","og_url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu\/","og_site_name":"MCQ and Quiz for Exams","article_published_time":"2025-06-01T04:24:15+00:00","author":"rawan239","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"rawan239","Est. reading time":"1 minute"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu\/","url":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/with-reference-to-the-electron-drift-speed-in-a-current-carrying-condu\/","name":"With reference to the electron drift speed in a current-carrying condu","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#website"},"datePublished":"2025-06-01T04:24:15+00:00","dateModified":"2025-06-01T04:24:15+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/exam.pscnotes.com\/mcq\/#\/schema\/person\/5807dafeb27d2ec82344d6cbd6c3d209"},"description":"The average speed of electrons due to their random thermal motion in a conductor at room temperature is very high (on the order of 10\u2075 to 10\u2076 m\/s). 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