🔴 Is Veritasium WRONG ? The Big Misconception About Electricity - Energy Doesn't Flow Inside Wires

Is Veritasium WRONG ? The Big Misconception About Electricity - Energy Doesn't Flow Inside Wires

I add my input into this discussion... yes I am likely wrong, as I am not an academic... but lets say it anyway !

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[EEVblog]

The electrons are already there, yes, but it's not the "shuffling" ("bumping"?) of the electrons for want of a better word that's getting there and lighting the bulb instantly, because the length of the wire is half a light second long in either direction. If you don't take into account direct electromagnetic field coupling over the 1m gap then you cannot get the 1s/c answer, because it takes time for the "electron shuffle" to propagate along the wire. And that's what the question is about, the 1s/c answer.
For your explanation to work then the "bumping" action would have to greatly exceed the speed of light.

[helmuthschultes]

If the field transfers the energy, the actual wire size is no longer of any role. Also a parralel wire loop and lamp would receive the energy too without needing a battery, induction alone does not apply significant energy flow.
Long before closing the circuit all electrons in the wire rest at potential, and all will begin movement on closing corcuit, no need for electrons to push the next one along into motion, so propogation rate is not applicable. Within any conductor, all electrons are in constant motion in random modes, remaining in balance due to local electrical imbalances as some electrons crowd and others disperse, causing resulting fields to rebalance motions, all at atomic scales, keeping balance neutral potential. Only under other physical conditions does a electric field establish, like chemical so battery, charge by electron balance so capacitors in charged state, or induction from magnetic. This field is getting electrons into motion.
Extent of natural electron motion is visible in permanent magnets, where it is orientation of natural electron motion of the atoms, creates large magnetic fields. It takes considerable electrical power to create similar strength M fields, that can exist without any power expenditure in polarised magnetic materials.
By the proposed theory we should transfer all power only by EM fields, meaning RF, if that ridiculous theory of energy in the E and M fields were true.

The fact that an individual electron travels slowly, does not affect the huge numbers, measured in coulombs per second, passing a given point per second, each individual electron carroes very, extremely, minute energy itself.
Just treat this topic as anothet massive internet false item from some foil head nut.

[cognetic]

All I know is..I stuck my finger in a light socket. It sure felt like electrons came from within. Not from around and outside. 😜

[TheEmbeddedHobbyist]

Electron current flow is a bit like a Newton’s cradle a ball hits one end and one flies out the other. But given the number of electrons in the wire and the number needed to just to make the wire what it is, there is a chance that the electron you put in may never come out.

Unlike YouTube where one Veritasium video went in and hundreds came out 🙂

[SloppyGoat]

Electron speed can literally not be measured, yet. We don't even know where they are. We only have methods to find them by looking in the most likely area of their general, probable vicinity. I don't know why, but Electronics Theory still seems to one of the things most physicists are most confused about. There are actually no particles. They are all frequencies. Particles are just how we perceive it when we take snapshots.

[SiliconSoup]

The lightbulb turns on in nano-sec because the direct wave pushes the electrons at the lightbulb. For the electrons to push the neighbouring electrons along the wire, it will take 1 sec to reach the lightbulb, not immediately. I did a simulation in my channel and hope you can take a look. Thanks

[radman]

But the electrons move unbelievably slow. It has more to do with the way in which transmission lines behave. I just pictured it as a big transformer, similar to how one is drawn on a schematic. The 1 meter air gap is key to getting his answer, which is why he is so coy about it.

[theepicone]

Faraday's electrolysis experiment easily disproves that energy doesn't flow inside wire by the most recusative and basic way. If electrons aren't carried by the wire how are they added to atoms or taken from them in right porportional amounts? Or am I getting something wrong?

[HeathGreen]

I can't comment on much, but I do know that electrons do not move too fast in wires, like on the order of mm a second or something.

[ThePetaaaaa]

I have only one comment in regard to the drift velocity of electrons: In metals it’s in the order of 0, 1 mm/s and not the speed of light. (And only relevant regarding DC.)
However, that doesn’t change anything about your argument.

[BenjaminGatti]

Electrons do not move at speed of light

[F_viper_pilot]

⁠Nothing in the universe moves instantly, including electrons. The electrons at the end of a piece of wire located 300, 000 kilometers away from the source do not instantly move the moment electricity begins to flow in the wire, because that would mean information traveled down the length of the wire from one end to the other instantly, and nothing can travel faster that the speed of light. It would take a minimum of 1 second for electricity to flow at the other end of the wire 300, 000 km away.

That being said, what we see in Derrick’s circuit is that the wires 1 meter away from each other in parallel are creating a capacitive effect due to the difference in potential as the current begins to flow from the source. This effect travels the length of the two parallel wires, thus producing a fractional voltage of the source at the load. Since the distance between the wires is 1 meter, then the small 4 volt voltage rise is seen at the load in the time it takes for the capacitive effect to initiate, which is the distance between the two parallel wires divided by the speed of light (1 meter / c) or about 3.3 nanoseconds. Meanwhile, the flow of current is making its way through the wire and arrives about 45+ nanoseconds later in Derrick’s simplified 20 meter circuit. Once that wave arrives, there is an overshoot, and then some of the current flows back toward the source (reflection) as the current and voltage level out into what is called steady state.

AlphaPhoenix demonstrated how a small amount of transient voltage and current are seen at the load even in a circuit where the wires are cut at the far ends. That’s because the current flowing from the source cannot know there is no complete circuit path until the wave gets to the open cut wire. If current somehow knew the circuit was open before it started flowing, then that would mean information was traveling faster than the speed of light, which is impossible and would break causality.

If you really want your mind blown, it take a little over 8 minutes for light from the sun to reach earth. It also takes the gravitational effect from the sun 8 minutes to affect the path of the earth around the sun. If the sun somehow completely vanished, we not only wouldn’t see that the sun was gone for 8 minutes, but the path of the earth around the sun would continue for another 8 minutes as if the sun were still there. Only after that time would the earth then proceed on a path out into space with no gravitational effect from the sun.

[bobwhite]

The fields move at near light speed, and that does two things - spreads the fields out across the 1m gap (so there is some signal - not full power - 1m/c seconds later), and sends the fields down the line. It is that propagating E field that gets the electrons moving, and those electrons moving keep the field moving down the line. That is roughly what you are describing as the 'bumping' - the electrons 'communicate' with each other by way of their fields, and those fields move close to c. The intrinsic inductance and capacitance of the line slow down the propagation to something a bit less than c. Because of the HUGE number of carriers (electrons) in the wire, their net speed is incredibly slow, but that little movement is sufficient to keep the field zipping along. Hope that helps.

[randalltufts]

Our teachers at Shawnee state in Ohio, (electro-mech engineering) explained it mathematically first and in simple terms like this. (Electrons stored in the battery travel on the outside of the wire. Hence the use of stranded wire over solid is a better choice . Not because it's easier to work with but because more can flow in a given area. The end result is pretty small mind you and a half a light second may not be much but over the course of miles of wire it will add up eventually. In small electronic curcuits we aren't going to notice any difference. But in the computer world where high speed and latency becomes paramount as we move into the quantum world it becomes a big deal. We're we taught right? Just because it works on paper doesn't mean it translates to real world application. The engineer/tech battle still rages after all these years. I stand amazed.

[wlvradio]

Firstly, it can't be the speed of light, because when you turn on a light? You are delivering power, and that makes even an extension cord a TRANSMISSION LINE. And all transmission lines have a VELOCITY FACTOR. (Any table of coax cables will have a velocity factor listed for each type.) What's more? This is a balanced transmission line, since we are talking AC. Finally? There's skin effect. So sure, there's a magnetic field OUTSIDE the wire, and an electrical field OUTSIDE the wire, sure! But...the outer shell of a copper atom has en electron knocked out of its orbit, this goes to the NEXT copper atom outer shell, that copper atom sends an electron from its outer shell to the next copper atom, and so on. So it moves IN the wire, and as a CONSEQUENCE of this motion, a FORCE. (Fleming's right hand rule.) Google a picture of Fleming's right hand rule and there you have it! 73 DE W8LV BILL

[SloppyGoat]

This is 100% correct. However, not only are there already electrons in the wire, waiting to enter the lightbulb, but they are already in the lightbulb filament!!! We're basically only talking about the motion of one electron, starting the cascade effect. Assuming everything I know about electronics theory is correct, and so far, there is no reason to doubt that. That Veritasium video is nothing, but click-bait. 🙄

[fredflintstone]

There were TEN in the bed and the little one said,
'Roll over, roll over!'
So they all rolled over and one fell out...

There were NINE in the bed and the little one said...

There were EIGHT in the bed and the little one said...

There were SEVEN in the bed and the little one said...

There were SIX in the bed and the little one said...

There were FIVE in the bed and the little one said...

There were FOUR in the bed and the little one said...

There were THREE in the bed and the little one said...

There were TWO in the bed and the little one said...

There was one in the bed and the little one said,
'Good night!'

[jonathanlemoine]

electrons travel very slow...something like 15min to move 1 inch...an electron leaving the battery would take a very very long time to get to the bulb...not the speed of light.

[danbrown]

Its because the electrons get excited when there is potential added. And envoking these little critters (electrons), to move very fast, BACK FOURTH, through tungsten creates heat, which is the light .
But the envoking power, comes from the magnetic field .
His video is becoming an english lesson really.
No… chemistry actually

[apollorobb]

Why does every youtuber have to do a video about this