ATM (was Re: too many routes)

Mon Sep 15 20:04:52 UTC 1997

Greg Shepherd wrote:
> >
> >Electo-Magnetic Radiation.  Electrons don't count as EMR do they though,
> >(hell they have a mass!)  so data in the form we transmit it down
> >copper won't move at this speed will it?
> 
> True, electrons have mass, but we are not 'transmitting' electrons. We are
> oscilating the electrons in the media. This oscilation creats EM energy
> which propogates down the media, in the form of photos, and will propogate
> at some percentage of c depending upon the media.

A good way to visualize this is to imagine a long pipe with an inside
diameter just large enough to hold a ping pong ball.  Imagine that the
pipe is completely full of balls from one end to the other - put a ball
in one end and a ball falls out the other end.  It happens very rapidly
(approx. 75% of the speed of light) even though the exact ball you put
in didn't travel the entire distance.  The balls represent electrons,
BTW.

-rob