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On 7 Oct 2020 13:41:58 -0000, (Scott Dorsey) wrote:

Brutus wrote:

By the by Cardas speculates that electrons are not traveling thru the wire, but that they pulse
(bump each other) sending the signal through.??


It's not speculation. By the end of the 19th century it became clear that
electron flow was much slower than the speed of a wave travelling through
a wire. This is the discovery that pretty much started the whole field of
solid state physics.

Black body radiation leading to quantum theory and then to the transistor is more relevant
to the start of solid state physics.

Thinking of it as electrons bumping one another isn't really all that
accurate a model; electrons aren't physical things that occupy a constant
space. But it's a reasonable enough way to think of it and good enough for
engineering purposes.

Don't forget the wave-particle duality, especially at the electron level. Electrons are
indeed particles with momentum and charge. They are moving and colliding with atoms during current
flow. Due to their momentum and quantity, the electrons can physically move the atoms of
the conductor. This phenomenon is the most serious wear-out and failure mechnism of microcircuits.
it also occurs in all conductors, such as house wiring (or speaker wires), but isn't noticed due to the
relative current densities as compared to those in a microcircuit.