Drift Velocity

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Drift Velocity

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The average velocity of a charged particle in a plasma in response to an applied electric field. </dd>
The motion of an individual particle is quite erratic as it bounces off other particles and has its direction continually changed. On the average, however, a particle will slowly work its way in the direction of the applied electric force. This velocity is usually much smaller than the random velocity of the particle between collisions. [[/a>|/a> ]]

References

This article is based on NASA's Dictionary of Technical Terms for Aerospace Use