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The Speed Of Electricity

© Copyright 1999, Jim Loy

We are told, by physicists, that electricity travels the same exact speed, through a wire, that light travels through a vacuum (the famous speed c). There are two problems with that, aren't there?

1. Electricity is the flow of electrons. Electrons have mass. Relativity says that things with mass cannot travel at the speed c. Only things with no mass (zero rest mass) can (and must) travel at c.
2. Even light cannot travel at c, when it is travelling through other substances. Light slows down, to travel through glass, water, or air. So, how can electrons travel at c, through copper?

Well, it turns out that physicists are right; electricity does travel at c. Also, electrons do not travel anywhere near c, within a wire. Electricity travels at c, while electrons do not.

Look at the picture, above left. When an electron enters one end of the wire, an electron leaves the other end of the wire. This effect takes place at the speed of light (c). But, they were not the same electron. A different electron exited the wire. And that clears up my two objections, above.

Rest mass is the mass that an object has, when it is at rest. Objects increase in mass when they speed up, as dictated by Special Relativity, and as observed in experiments. Light has a zero rest mass, even though it can never be at rest. This is another consequence of the same equations that predict that masses increase with speed.

The first paragraph, of this article, is meant to sound skeptical about the speed of electricity being c. I did that for artistic reasons; I like the article better that way. But it is also a trap. Perhaps I can trap some physicist, who will read only that paragraph, and then give me the same arguments that I stated, why electricity can travel at c.

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