The avearage velocity of the electrons in a conductor carrying a current of 65.5 ampere is 0.0153 inches per second. What is the cross sectional area of the conductor?
To find the cross-sectional area of the conductor, we can use the formula:
current (I) = (n * A * v * q)
Where:
- I is the current in amperes
- n is the number of charge carriers (in this case, the number of electrons per unit volume)
- A is the cross-sectional area of the conductor in square meters
- v is the average velocity of the charge carriers in meters per second
- q is the charge of an electron in coulombs
First, we need to convert the given current from amperes to coulombs per second:
1 ampere = 1 coulomb per second
Therefore, the current (I) in coulombs per second is 65.5 coulombs per second.
Next, we convert the average velocity from inches per second to meters per second:
1 inch = 0.0254 meters
Therefore, the average velocity (v) in meters per second is 0.0153 inches per second * 0.0254 meters per inch.
Lastly, we know that the charge of an electron (q) is approximately 1.6 * 10^-19 coulombs.
Now, we can rearrange the formula to solve for A:
A = I / (n * v * q)
To find the value of n, we need additional information about the conductor's characteristics, such as the material and the number of free electrons per unit volume. Without that information, we can't determine the cross-sectional area accurately.