My understanding is that current flow is like when you have a garden hose that is already full of water: as soon as you open the tap, water instantly comes out of the other end of the hose.
So when a generator pushes current through a power grid, do the electrons move at the speed of light (as many believe), or is it more a case of them all bumping each other along instantaneously,, as with the molecules of water in the garden hose?
In: Physics
> Water instantly comes out of the other end of the hose.
No, actually it’s not “instantly”, that’s the part that happens at the speed of light (for electrons).
As far as the electron movement, that’s called the [drift velocity](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Drift_velocity) of electrons in wire, and it depends on the material (what metal it is, dimensions, etc.), and on the electric field (voltage, etc.).
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