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What happens to the free electrons when an electric field is applied?

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What happens to the free electrons when an electric field is applied?

(a) They move randomly and collide with each other

(b) They move in the direction of the field

(c) They remain stable

(d) They move in the direction opposite to that of the field

The question was posed to me in semester exam.

My enquiry is from Free Electron Theory in portion Semiconductors of Engineering Physics II

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Right answer is (d) They move in the direction opposite to that of the field

The explanation is: The free electrons move in the direction opposite to that of field direction. Since they are assumed to be a perfect gas as they obey classical kinetic theory of gases and the electron velocities in the metal obey the Maxwell-Boltzmann statistics.

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