Re: Sparks (and ions)

[William Beaty <billb@eskimo.com>]

On Tue, 8 Sep 1998, James Mclean wrote:

> William Beaty says:
> > Hi again Ed!  Nope, yours is a description of a wire.  In electrolytic
> > conductors, charged atoms migrate and electrons do not.
>
> While this seems reasonable for your typical jar of salt water (or
> whatever) under going relatively slow electrolysis, I have a hard time
> believing that a charged ion in my foot migrates all the way to my finger
> in the time it takes for the spark to jump to the doorknob.  Not that I
> have an alternative answer, but it seems like something is missing here....

But isn't the story the same for an electron?  It takes ages for electrons
to go anywhere (contrary to the popular misconception where electrons
travel at c.)

I imagine people (and wires) to be waveguides, and the energy
propagates as EM fields on the surface of the conductor.  At the same
time, charges on the surface barely move.  Analogy: pressure waves move
fast through a pipe, while the air in the pipe needs barely move at all.
Another analogy: lower yourself into a swimming pool, and the level of the
pool rises almost simultaneously, even though there was no rapid movement
of water.

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