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What Is The Relation Between Electric Field and Drift Velocity PDF

1) Drift velocity is the average velocity of electrons flowing inside a conductor under the influence of an electric field. 2) The drift velocity is directly proportional to the electric field - it increases as the electric field increases and decreases as the electric field decreases. 3) The relation between drift velocity and electric field is given by the equation: drift velocity = charge * electric field / mass.

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Leon Mathaios
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329 views

What Is The Relation Between Electric Field and Drift Velocity PDF

1) Drift velocity is the average velocity of electrons flowing inside a conductor under the influence of an electric field. 2) The drift velocity is directly proportional to the electric field - it increases as the electric field increases and decreases as the electric field decreases. 3) The relation between drift velocity and electric field is given by the equation: drift velocity = charge * electric field / mass.

Uploaded by

Leon Mathaios
Copyright
© © All Rights Reserved
We take content rights seriously. If you suspect this is your content, claim it here.
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Download as PDF, TXT or read online on Scribd
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2/15/2017 Whatistherelationbetweenelectricfieldanddriftvelocity?

Quora

ElectricFieldislikegravitationalfield.Driftvelocityisliketheterminalvelocity.Terminalvelocityis
thehighestvelocityattainablebyanobjectasitfallsthroughair.Itoccursoncethesumofthedragforce
(F)andbuoyancyequalsthedownwardforceofgravity(F)actingontheobject.Sincethenetforceon
theobjectiszero,theobjecthaszeroacceleration.

Thefrictioninmechanicalworldthatdissipatestheenergyasheatisanalogoustothefrictionor
resistanceintheelectricalworld.Whenchargesmovethroughmaterials,theresistancesofferedbythe
latticestructurecausesanoppositionforcedefinedbytheohmslaw.Thevoltageortheoppositionforce
toamovingchargeisproportionaltoitsvelocity(velocityofachargeiscurrentorcurrentdensity).Infact
therelationbetweenterminalvelocityandElectricfielditselfisohm'slawputinadifferentway.

YoucanlookupformathematicalrelationinDriftvelocity.

Theconductivitytermintherelationistheonewhichstatesthematerialproperty.i.e.theresistance
materialunderconsideration.
1.2kViewsViewUpvotes

Upvote 1 Downvote Comment

PrateekSharma,Physicist|Educator
WrittenJan9

Hi,thanksfortheA2A

Driftvelocityistheaveragevelocityofelectronsflowinginsideaconductorundertheinfluenceofan
electricfield,whichisresponsibleforthepotentialdifferencealongthelengthoftheconductor.

Therelationbetweenelectricfieldandpotentialisgivenbyfollowingrelation:

E=dV/dRorsimplyE=V/L

Theelectricpotentialchangesalongthedistanceinanelectricfield.

Soinaconductorwithapotentialdifferencebetweenit'sends,theelectronsflowundertheinfluenceof
thiselectricfield.Andtheelectricforceisresponsiblefortheaccelerationofelectronsandgivethenadrift
velocity.

Theequationsinvolvedare

Driftvelocity=(accelerationoftheelectrons)*time

Rememberthisisaveragevelocityofelectronsandtheaverageinitialvelocityiszero.

Acceleration=(charge*electricfield)/mass

Nowithinkyoucanfigureoutthelastrelation.

Sodriftvelocityisdirectlyproportionaltotheelectricfieldanditincreases/decreaseswhenelectricfield
increases/decreases.

https://www.quora.com/Whatistherelationbetweenelectricfieldanddriftvelocity 1/2
2/15/2017 Whatistherelationbetweenelectricfieldanddriftvelocity?Quora

224ViewsViewUpvotesAnswerrequestedbyDeepakSingh

Upvote 1 Downvote Comment

RohanAnanthaKrishna,Timetravelbackwardsisn'tpossibleevenifyougo
fasterthanlight.PERIOD!
WrittenJan18,2016

A2A

Electricfieldiswhatensuresthattheelectronmovesalongtheconductor,sothisimplies

E = m
q a E=mqa

Also,weknowthattheelectronexperiencescontinuousaccelerationalongtheconductor(sincethe
voltageincreaseslinearlyalongthelineoftheconductor),


so a = vd a=vdwhere istakentheaveragetimeconstantforwhichtheelectronmovesbefore
beinghitbyarigidobject(themetalparticles)


So,substitutiongives E = q
m
vd E=mqvd

Thisshowsthatthedriftvelocityiseitherinthedirectionparallelorantiparalleltothedirectionofthe
electricfield,increaseswithincreaseofchargeandelectricfieldbutdecreaseswiththeincreaseinthe
massoftheparticle.

https://www.quora.com/Whatistherelationbetweenelectricfieldanddriftvelocity 2/2

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