Why does it sometimes seem instant and sometimes it seems to take time for something to work? For example, if I leave my hoover switched on and plug it in, it seems to start immediately, but when I switch the plug off for my tv the stand by light takes a few seconds to go off?
Edit: thanks for the explanation guys, seems like the answer I was looking for was some appliances use capacitors.
In: Physics
Electricity is fast. Very fast. As you’ve been told, close to light speed.
What you observe is not really related to the “speed” of electricity. Electronics in the TV include some components that store a small amount of charge (“electricity”). When the TV is in standby it uses only a small amount of it, so when you unplug it, it takes some time for the electricity stored to be consumed. When you turn on something, in most cases the power is instantaneously on, but depending on the device there is maybe some kind of processor doing stuff to “boot” the device, just like a PC or smartphone.
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