Table-top Analogues Using Chemical Waves: Electron Drift Velocity

We are using chemical reaction-diffusion waves propagating in a quasi-one-dimensional channel to visualize the drift velocities of electrons in a conductor. Though electrons move very fast, the actual drift velocity along the wire is surprisingly small. In our simple analogue, we employ the chemical Belousov-Zhabotinsky reaction to create easily visible, colorful fronts moving in several parallel channels. Depending on the chemical composition of the reaction, we can illustrate the electron drift velocity of, for example, i) different applied voltages, ii) different wire radii, or iii) within different materials.