What is the speed of an electric current in copper?

Electromagnetic waves propagate in vacuum at a maximum speed of 299,792,458 meters per second . For a 12-gauge copper wire carrying a 10-ampere DC current, the speed of electric current (average electron drift velocity) is about 80 centimeters per hour or about 0.0002 meters per second. That's a huge difference. read more

In copper at 60 Hz, ≈ 3.2 m/s. Some sprinters can run more than three times as fast. As a consequence of Snell's Law and the extremely low speed, electromagnetic waves always enter good conductors in a direction that is normal to the surface, regardless of the angle of incidence. read more

The speed of electric current in copper wire is the average drift velocity of electrons in the wire. This can be calculated using the applet shown below from the Hyperphysics webpage: Microscopic View of Electric current. read more

For example, for a copper wire of radius 1 mm carrying a steady current of 10 Amps, the drift velocity is only about 0.024 cm/sec!!!!! Told ya ;-) Although the drift velocity in a wire is small, the thermal velocity of the electrons tends to be quite large. read more