<Tr> <Td> </Td> <Td> This article needs additional citations for verification . Relevant discussion may be found on the talk page . Please help improve this article by adding citations to reliable sources . Unsourced material may be challenged and removed . (July 2015) (Learn how and when to remove this template message) </Td> </Tr> <P> The word electricity refers generally to the movement of electrons (or other charge carriers) through a conductor in the presence of potential and an electric field . The speed of this flow has multiple meanings . In everyday electrical and electronic devices, the signals or energy travel as electromagnetic waves typically on the order of 50%--99% of the speed of light, while the electrons themselves move (drift) much more slowly . </P> <P> The speed at which energy or signals travel down a cable is actually the speed of the electromagnetic wave, not the movement of electrons . Electromagnetic wave propagation is fast and depends on both the permeability and the permittivity of the material . In a vacuum the wave travels at the speed of light and almost that fast in air . </P> <P> The speed of electromagnetic waves in a low - loss dielectric is given by </P>

What is it that travels through an electric circuit at nearly the speed of light