In this article we will discuss the units of electricity. Electricity is also known as electricity and today it is present all over the world and we use it for most of our daily functions. The most commonly used unit of current is the ampere and is indicated by the letter “A”. This is the international system of units.
It is named after French physicist André-Marie Ampère, who made significant contributions to the understanding of electromagnetism. In practice, one ampere is equivalent to the flow of one coulomb of charge per second through a conductor. Now let's see what common units are used to measure current.
Amps (A):
The ampere is the standard unit of electrical current in the International System of Units (SI). An ampere is defined as one coulomb of charge flowing through a conductor per second.
Milliamperes (mA):
One milliampere is equal to one thousandth of an ampere. It is often used to measure smaller electrical currents, for example in electronic circuits.
Microamps (μA):
A microampere is one millionth of an ampere. It is used to measure extremely small currents, especially in sensitive electronic devices and biomedical applications.
Kiloamperes (kA):
One kiloampere is equal to one thousand amps. It is used in high-performance applications such as large electrical systems, industrial machinery and power distribution.
Megaamperes (MA):
One megaampere is equivalent to one million amps. This unit is often associated with very high current flows, such as those found in certain industrial processes and experimental setups.
Coulombs per second (C/s or A):
Coulomb is a unit of electrical charge. The flow of one coulomb per second corresponds to one ampere of current. This unit is less commonly used, but is a basic expression of current.
Franklin per second (Fr/s):
Franklin per second is a unit of electrical current in the centimeter-gram-second (CGS) system. It is approximately equal to 3.336 x 10^(-10) amps.
Statampere (statA):
The statampere is a unit of electrical current in the electrostatic system of CGS units. It is equivalent to approximately 3.3356 x 10^(-10) amps.
Abampere (abA):
The abampere is a unit of current in the electromagnetic system of units and is equal to approximately 10 amps.
Gigaamperes (GA):
One gigaampere is equivalent to one billion amps. It is used in theoretical and astronomical contexts, such as discussions about extremely high currents in astrophysical phenomena.
These units represent different magnitudes of electrical current, providing flexibility in representing current levels in diverse applications, from small electronic circuits to massive industrial systems.
