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RE: Mostly correct.

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This Post Has Been Edited by the Author

In Reply to: RE: Mostly correct. posted by Jon Risch on February 06, 2022 at 17:24:08

The Electric field is orthogonal to the direction of free electron motion, the Magnetic field is curled around the direction of electron motion. The Poynting vector, the cross product of the E and H fields, is in the same direction as electron motion.
The Magnetic field is actually our old friend the induced Magnetic field that results from a moving charge in the wire, I.e., current. The E field is induced by voltage.I doubt anyone said fields propagate faster than the speed of light. In any case, more to the point, the E and H fields don't propagate along the same axis as the electron motion. But S the Poynting vector does.
An electromagnetic wave travels at light speed in a vacuum, of course, but in a medium it travels somewhat slower, in cable the speed is around 7/10 the speed of light, I'm referring to the Poynting vector here so that speed is through the dielectric material since the Poynting vector is outside the metal conductor. And all know what particle travels at the speed of light in a vacuum and somewhat less than the speed of light in a medium, right?
It should be noted that the E and H fields determine S the Poynting vector. And voltage and current determine the M and E fields. Current is of course calculated from number of free electrons moving at a given instant in time. I.e., moving charge. So, one can safely conclude that the final result, S the Poynting vector, is a strong function of how freely the electrons can move in the metal conductor along the x axis, at their drift velocity.

Edits: 02/08/22

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