The diameter of a 12-gauge copper wire is 0.081 in. The maximum safe current it can carry (in order to prevent fire danger in building construction) is 20 A. At this current, what is the drift velocity of the electrons? The number of electron carriers in 1.0 cm3 of copper is 8.5 * 1022 and e = 1.60 * 10-19 C.

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Physics

13 August, 11:33

The diameter of a 12-gauge copper wire is 0.081 in. The maximum safe current it can carry (in order to prevent fire danger in building construction) is 20 A. At this current, what is the drift velocity of the electrons? The number of electron carriers in 1.0 cm3 of copper is 8.5 * 1022 and e = 1.60 * 10-19 C.

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Callie Cannon · Answer 1

v = I / (n q A)

where A is the cross sectional area (you are given diameter, so A = (pi/4) * d^2), n is the number of charge carriers in a volume, and q is the charge of each carrier (-1.60x10^-19). I is the current, in Amps.

You will need to either convert your diameter from inches to centimeters or you will need to convert your volume in cc to cubic inches. I'd convert diameter.