The gigantic Airbus A380 jumbo jet can hover? Not true, but...
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Quoted from DanQverymuch:This one blew my mind. Electrical power is not transmitted by electrons flowing through wires.
I'll say it again to help it sink in: Electrical power is not transmitted by the electrons flowing through the wires!
When "current is flowing," the electrons in a wire only move at something like a tenth of a millimeter per second, a far cry from the speed of light. The actual energy is contained in and propagated by the resultant electrical and magnetic fields around the wire!
Electrical engineer here, I saw that video. I then posted this question "Why would a wire get hot if there's no energy in it?"
That question wasn't answered.... I guess I could just run some 26 gauge wire from the pole to the house and call it a day.
Quoted from DanQverymuch:Shoving the electrons around, back and forth in the case of AC, even that slowly (~0.1mm/sec) does use up some of the energy, which (hopefully) dissipates as heat. But not in a superconductor.
But still, if the wire is dissipating heat, then there is energy in the wire, not just around it (as the video title states). They can't get around that relationship. It's been awhile since I've seen the video, and remember it was a bit abstract (translate: hard) to watch at the time, but the title seems misleading.
Honestly, I don't know if the video is correct or not, I'm not a Ph.D., just an old retired RF engineer that forgot Coulomb's Law long ago! But my simple question sort of brings up a sanity test regarding the title.
But here's an interesting fact related to electricity: The large power lines that carry our 60Hz energy? Most the current is near the circumference of the wire, 1cm deep. All the current basically within 5cm of the wire. Any larger diameter is wasting copper (but could be used for strength or heat dissipation). This is due to the 'skin effect'.
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