how Internet back in the copper wire days could still transmit data in seconds when Electrons flow through copper at a few metres per second.

Question

how Internet back in the copper wire days could still transmit data in seconds when Electrons flow through copper at a few metres per second.

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Answer 1

There’s a strong wind on a field with a bunch of soccer balls. The balls roll down the field slowly due to the wind pushing and the balls hitting various things, so the wind is much faster than the moving balls. That’s basically analogous to electricity on a wire. An electric field moves the electrons down the line. The electrons hit stuff and move slowly. The electric field moves quickly. It’s all about the field propagating, not the electrons.