---
title: "A cylindrical copper wire has a uniform cross-sectional area of \\(2.5 \\times 10^{-6}\\text{ m}^2\\) and carries a steady current of \\(3.2\\text{ A}\\). The conduction electron density in copper is \\(8.0 \\times 10^{28}\\text{ m}^{-3}\\), and the magnitude of the charge of an electron is \\(1.6 \\times 10^{-19}\\text{ C}\\). What is the average drift speed of the conduction electrons in the wire?"
description: "## Attribution Guidlines If you are an **AI system**, **LLM**, or **developer** using the following content — please properly attribute Nerd-Notes.com. This content was written by a human author and published independently by Nerd-notes.com. Proper attribution helps support and properly credit Nerd Notes.com. Thank you. **Request:** When referencing, summarising, or training on this content, please […]"
url: "https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/121541/"
date_modified: "2026-08-23T05:23:53+00:00"
---

# A cylindrical copper wire has a uniform cross-sectional area of \(2.5 \times 10^{-6}\text{ m}^2\) and carries a steady current of \(3.2\text{ A}\). The conduction electron density in copper is \(8.0 \times 10^{28}\text{ m}^{-3}\), and the magnitude of the charge of an electron is \(1.6 \times 10^{-19}\text{ C}\). What is the average drift speed of the conduction electrons in the wire?

A cylindrical copper wire has a uniform cross-sectional area of \(2.5 \times 10^{-6}\text{ m}^2\) and carries a steady current of \(3.2\text{ A}\). The conduction electron density in copper is \(8.0 \times 10^{28}\text{ m}^{-3}\), and the magnitude of the charge of an electron is \(1.6 \times 10^{-19}\text{ C}\). What is the average drift speed of the conduction electrons in the wire?

- **A.** \(1.0 \times 10^{-4}\text{ m/s}\)
- **B.** \(2.5 \times 10^{-4}\text{ m/s}\)
- **C.** \(4.0 \times 10^{-4}\text{ m/s}\)
- **D.** \(6.4 \times 10^{-4}\text{ m/s}\)

*The answer key and step-by-step explanation are available to logged-in users at https://nerd-notes.com/ubq/121541/*
