Question

The electrons in a metal that produce electric currents behave approximately as molecules of an ideal gas. The mass of an electron is me = 9.109·10-31 kg. If the temperature of the metal is 289 K, what is the root-mean-square speed of the electrons?

Answer 1

Formula for root mean square velocity,
\[V= \sqrt{3.k.T/m}\]

where k is the boltzmann constant, T is temperature in kelvins and m being the mass of 1 molecule of the gas( in this case an electron).

Thus plugging in the numbers,

V= sqrt( 3 . 1.380x10^-23 . 289 / 9.109x10^-31)
=1.14608x10^5 m/s