Light Speed

[norman dyson]

How fast is electricity?

[Quizmonster]

186,000 miles per second - the same as light - is normally the answer given, However, click http://www.itwlinx.com/articles/protection_referen
ce.asp for a more scientific outline.

[lisaj]

Electric current, ie. the actual electrons, moves quite slowly (in cm/s). The electric field (the field which stimulates electron flow at the far end of a connection), travels at 186,000 miles/s - the speed of light (under optimal circumstances). The quest for optical switches (and therefore optical computers) is so that computers will truly run at the speed of light and not some fraction of it as is the case presently.