Two coppers wires of different diameters are joined end-to-end. If a current flows in the wire combination, what happens to the drift velocity of the electrons when they move from the larger-diameter wire to the smaller-diameter wire?
1 Answer
The drift velocity of electrons in a conductor in terms of current is defined as, I = vdnAe or, \(v_d=\frac1{neA}\), where I = current flowing in the conductor, n = number of electrons for unit volume and e = electronic charge. When electrons move from the larger diameter wire to the smaller diameter wire, the drift velocity increases because drift velocity has an inverse relationship with the area of cross-section.
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