Lady and Gentlemen,
Expanding on my previous post, the facts that electrons that are moving in response to an ac voltage "don't move much," and "stay very close by their atoms," and have a very slow drift velocity, all of which I agree with, do not change the fact that during each second trillions of electrons will flow back and forth across any given cross-section of the conductor.
Yes, each electron will move an EXTREMELY small distance during each half-cycle of the signal, but nevertheless those trillions of electrons will cross the plane of that cross-section during a given half-cycle, and will then cross it again in the opposite direction during the next half-cycle.
As I said earlier, if the OP was asking about the number of electrons that might make a complete round-trip from amp terminal to speaker and back to the other amp terminal, then I certainly agree that the number would be zero or close to it (my compliments to Geoff for including the word "approximately" in that regard, reflecting the fact that there is always some non-zero degree of randomness in electron movement). And I don't think we can say with certainty what the OP meant, without further clarification from him. But a literal interpretation of the wording of his question, IMO, suggests that the answer is trillions, not zero.
Regards,
-- Al
Expanding on my previous post, the facts that electrons that are moving in response to an ac voltage "don't move much," and "stay very close by their atoms," and have a very slow drift velocity, all of which I agree with, do not change the fact that during each second trillions of electrons will flow back and forth across any given cross-section of the conductor.
Yes, each electron will move an EXTREMELY small distance during each half-cycle of the signal, but nevertheless those trillions of electrons will cross the plane of that cross-section during a given half-cycle, and will then cross it again in the opposite direction during the next half-cycle.
As I said earlier, if the OP was asking about the number of electrons that might make a complete round-trip from amp terminal to speaker and back to the other amp terminal, then I certainly agree that the number would be zero or close to it (my compliments to Geoff for including the word "approximately" in that regard, reflecting the fact that there is always some non-zero degree of randomness in electron movement). And I don't think we can say with certainty what the OP meant, without further clarification from him. But a literal interpretation of the wording of his question, IMO, suggests that the answer is trillions, not zero.
Regards,
-- Al