PHYSICS CONNECTION
Mean drift velocity is a motion quantity
Charge carriers have a small average motion through a conductor. That mean drift velocity determines how many carriers cross a section each second.
Distance drifted = vΔt I = nAev
Follow the reasoning
- Consider a conductor slice of length vΔt.
- Multiply its volume by carrier number density and charge per carrier.
- Divide the charge crossing the section by Δt to obtain current.
OFFICIAL OCR QUESTIONS
Try it in a past paper 1
Open the question, then use its mark scheme to check your work.
Question 3(a)
Compare the direction and speed of charge carriers moving through filter paper.
A curated collection checked against the question papers and mark schemes; not a complete past-paper catalogue. Links open official OCR PDFs in a new tab.
ORIGINAL PHYSICSUK QUESTIONS
Put the ideas to work
More practice is on its way
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Specification outcomes (3)
- 3.1.1(a) Define and use displacement, instantaneous speed, average speed, velocity and acceleration.
- 4.1.2(a) Define and understand mean drift velocity of charge carriers.
- 4.1.2(b) Use and apply I = A n e v, where n is the number density of charge carriers.