Drift velocity
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The drift velocity is the average velocity that a particle, such as an electron, attains, due to an electric field. Since particles can accelerate arbitrarily close to the speed of light in the absence of other forces, the term "drift velocity" can only really apply to carriers in materials, and not to particles in a vacuum. Particles in solids, for example, actually collide or scatter with the lattice (or phonons), which slows them down.