What is electric current?

What is Electric current?-Physics Concept

Electric current results when electric charges move - these may be negatively charged electrons or positive charge carriers - positive ions.

Electric current definition: An electric current is a flow of electric charge in a circuit. More specifically, the electric current is the rate of charge flow past a given point in an electric circuit. The charge can be negatively charged electrons or positive charge carriers including protons, positive ions or holes.

1. The magnitude of the electric current is measured in coulombs per second, the common unit for this being the Ampere or amp which is designated by the letter ‘A’.
2. The Ampere or amp is widely used within electrical and electronic technology along with the multipliers like milliamp (0.001A), microamp (0.000001A), and so forth.
3. Current flow in a circuit is normally designated by the letter ‘I’, and this letter is used in equations like Ohms law where V=I⋅R.

How to measure current?

One important aspect of current is knowing the amount of current that may be flowing in a conductor. As electric current is such a key factor in electrical and electronic circuits, knowing what current is flowing is very important.

Current is one of the most important and fundamental elements within electrical and electronic technology. The current flowing in a circuit can be used in a variety of ways from generating heat to causing circuits to switch, or information to be stored in an integrated circuit.