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The velocity factor (VF),cite-ref-1[1] also called wave propagation (relative) speed or (relative) velocity of propagation (VoP or v P {\displaystyle v_{\mathrm {P} }} ),cite-ref-2[2] of a transmission medium is the ratio of the speed at which a wavefront (of an electromagnetic signal, a radio signal, a light pulse in an optical fibre or a change of the electrical voltage on a copper wire) passes through the medium, to the speed of light in vacuum. For optical signals, the velocity factor is the reciprocal of the refractive index.

The speed of radio signals in vacuum, for example, is the speed of light, and so the velocity factor of a radio wave in vacuum is 1.0 (unity). In air, the velocity factor is ~0.9997. In electrical cables, the velocity factor mainly depends on the insulating material (see table below).

The use of the terms velocity of propagation and wave propagation speed to mean a ratio of speeds is confined to the computer networking and cable industries. In a general science and engineering context, these terms would be understood to mean a true speed or velocity in units of distance per time,cite-ref-3[3] while velocity factor is used for the ratio.

• Typical velocity factors

• Calculating velocity factor

• Electric wave

• Optical wave

• See also

• References

Velocity factor is an important characteristic of communication media such as category 5 cables and radio transmission lines. Plenum data cable typically has a VF between 0.42 and 0.72 (42% to 72% of the speed of light in vacuum) and riser cable around 0.70 (approximately 210,000,000 m/s or 4.76 ns per metre).

Minimum velocity factors allowed for network cable standards VF (%) Cable type Ethernet physical layer 74~79% Cat-7 twisted pair 77% RG-8/U Minimum for 10BASE5cite-ref-4[4] 67% Optical fiber (silica glass) Minimum for 10BASE-FL,cite-ref-5[5] 100BASE-FX, ... 67% Plastic optical fiber (PMMA) 1000BASE-RHx 63% Plastic optical fiber (polystyrene) 65% RG-58A/U Minimum for 10BASE2cite-ref-6[6] 65% Cat-6A twisted pair 10GBASE-T 64% Cat-5e twisted pair 100BASE-TX, 1000BASE-T 58.5% Cat-3 twisted pair Minimum for 10BASE-Tcite-ref-7[7]

Some typical velocity factors for radio communications cables provided in handbooks and texts are given in the following table:cite-ref-8[8]cite-ref-9[9]

VF (%) Transmission line Center insulation 95~99% open-wire line ("ladder line") air insulated 93% HJ8-50B 3 inch Heliax coaxial cable air dielectriccite-ref-10[10] 86% RG-8 Belden 7810A coaxial cable gas-injected foamed high-density polyethylenecite-ref-11[11] 83% RG-6 Belden 1189A coaxial cable, RG-11 Belden 1523A coaxial cable 82% RG-8X Belden 9258 coaxial cable foamed polyethylene dielectric 80% Belden 9085 twin-lead 77% RG-8/U generic foamed polyethylene 66% Belden 8723 twin shielded stranded twisted pair polypropylene insulatorcite-ref-12[12] 66% RG-213 CXP213 solid polyethylene dielectric

VF equals the reciprocal of the square root of the dielectric constant (relative permittivity), κ κ {\displaystyle \kappa } or ϵ ϵ r {\displaystyle \epsilon _{\mathrm {r} }} , of the material through which the signal passes:

V F = 1 κ κ {\displaystyle \mathrm {VF} ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {\kappa }}}\ }

in the usual case where the relative permeability, μ μ r {\displaystyle \mu _{\mathrm {r} }} , is 1. In the most general case:

V F = 1 μ μ r ϵ ϵ r {\displaystyle \mathrm {VF} ={\frac {1}{\sqrt {\mu _{\mathrm {r} }\epsilon _{\mathrm {r} }}}}\ }

which includes unusual magnetic conducting materials, such as ferrite.

The velocity factor for a lossless transmission line is given by:

V F = 1 c 0 L ′ C ′ {\displaystyle \mathrm {VF} ={\frac {1}{c_{\mathrm {0} }{\sqrt {L'C'}}}}\ }

where L ′ {\displaystyle L'} is the distributed inductance (in henries per unit length), C ′ {\displaystyle C'} is the capacitance between the two conductors (in farads per unit length), and c 0 {\displaystyle c_{\mathrm {0} }} is the speed of light in vacuum.

VF equals the reciprocal of the refractive index n {\displaystyle {n}} of the medium, usually optical fiber.

V F = 1 n {\displaystyle \mathrm {VF} ={\frac {1}{n}}\ }

• Coaxial cable

• Propagation delay

• Signal velocity

• Speed of electricity

• Speed of sound

• Telegrapher's equations

cite-note-11. ↑ Gottlieb, I.M., Practical RF power design techniques, TAB Books, 1993, ISBN 0-8306-4129-7, p.251 ('velocity factor')

cite-note-22. ↑ Velocity of Propagation, General Cable Australia Pty Ltd, retrieved 2010-02-13

cite-note-33. ↑ "velocity of propagation" in Walker, P.M.B., Chambers Science and Technology Dictionary, Edinburgh, 1991, ISBN 1-85296-150-3

cite-note-44. ↑ IEEE 802.3 Clause 8.4.1.3 The minimum required velocity of propagation is 0.77 c.

cite-note-55. ↑ IEEE 802.3 clause 15.3.1.3 The propagation delay shall be ≤5 μs/km. (This is equivalent to a velocity of propagation of 0.67c.)

cite-note-66. ↑ IEEE 802.3 Clause 10.5.1.3 The minimum required velocity of propagation is 0.65 c.

cite-note-77. ↑ IEEE 802.3 Clause 14.4.2.4 The maximum propagation delay of twisted pair shall be 5.7 ns/m (minimum velocity of 0.585 × c).

cite-note-88. ↑ citerefsilver2011Silver, H. Ward, ed. (2011). "Chapter 22: Component Data and References". The ARRL Handbook for Radio Communications (88th ed.). Newington, CT: ARRL. p. 22.48. ISBN 978-0-87259-096-0.

cite-note-99. ↑ citerefkaiser2005Kaiser, Kenneth L. (2005). Transmission Lines, Matching, and Crosstalk. Boca Raton, FL: CRC Press. pp. 2–24. ISBN 978-0-8493-6362-7.

cite-note-1010. ↑ "HJ8-50B" (PDF). commscope.com. Retrieved 22 March 2022.

cite-note-1111. ↑ Belden Global Catalog (PDF) (Report). 7810A – via belden.com.

cite-note-1212. ↑ "8723 multi-conductor, shielded twisted pair cable" (PDF). Belden.com. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2018-01-19. Retrieved 2017-07-06.