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Ampere
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Theampere(SIunitsymbol:A),oftenshortenedto
"amp",[1]istheSIunitofelectriccurrent[2][3](dimension Ampere
symbol:I)[4]andisoneoftheseven[5]SIbaseunits.Itis
namedafterAndrMarieAmpre(17751836),French
mathematicianandphysicist,consideredthefatherof
electrodynamics.

Theampereisequivalenttoonecoulomb(roughly
6.241 1018timestheelementarycharge)persecond.[6]
Amperesareusedtoexpressflowrateofelectriccharge.
Foranypointexperiencingacurrent,ifthenumberof
chargedparticlespassingthroughitorthechargeon
theparticlespassingthroughitisincreased,the
amperesofcurrentatthatpointwillproportionately Demonstrationmodelofamovingironammeter.
increase. Asthecurrentthroughthecoilincreases,the
plungerisdrawnfurtherintothecoilandthe
Theampereshouldnotbeconfusedwiththecoulomb
pointerdeflectstotheright.
(alsocalled"amperesecond")ortheamperehour(Ah).
Theampereisaunitofcurrent,theamountofcharge Unitinformation
transitingperunittime,andthecoulombisaunitof
Unitsystem SIbaseunit
charge.WhenSIunitsareused,constant,instantaneous
andaveragecurrentareexpressedinamperes(asin"the Unitof Electriccurrent
chargingcurrentis1.2A")andthechargeaccumulated, Symbol A
orpassedthroughacircuitoveraperiodoftimeis
expressedincoulombs(asin"thebatterychargeis Namedafter AndrMarieAmpre
30 000C").Therelationoftheamperetothecoulombis
thesameasthatofthewatttothejoule,andthatofmetrepersecondtometre.

Contents

1 Definition

2 History

3 Realization

4 Proposedfuturedefinition

5 Everydayexamples

5.1 Portabledevices

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5.2 Motorvehicles12VDC

5.3 NorthAmericandomesticsupply120VAC

5.4 European&Commonwealthdomesticsupply230240VAC

6 Seealso

7 Notes

8 References

9 Externallinks

Definition
Ampre'sforcelaw[7][8]statesthatthereisanattractiveorrepulsive
forcebetweentwoparallelwirescarryinganelectriccurrent.This
forceisusedintheformaldefinitionoftheampere,whichstatesthat
theampereistheconstantcurrentthatwillproduceanattractive
forceof2107newtonspermetreoflengthbetweentwostraight,
parallelconductorsofinfinitelengthandnegligiblecircularcross
sectionplacedonemetreapartinavacuum.[2][9]

TheSIunitofcharge,thecoulomb,"isthequantityofelectricity
carriedin1secondbyacurrentof1ampere".[10]Conversely,a
currentofoneampereisonecoulombofchargegoingpastagiven
pointpersecond: Illustrationofthedefinitionofthe
ampereunit

Ingeneral,chargeQisdeterminedbysteadycurrentIflowingforatimetasQ=It.

History
Theamperewasoriginallydefinedasonetenthoftheunitofelectriccurrentinthecentimetregram
secondsystemofunitsthatunit,nowknownastheabampere,wasdefinedastheamountofcurrentthat
generatesaforceoftwodynespercentimetreoflengthbetweentwowiresonecentimetreapart.[11]Thesize
oftheunitwaschosensothattheunitsderivedfromitintheMKSAsystemwouldbeconvenientlysized.

The"internationalampere"wasanearlyrealizationoftheampere,definedasthecurrentthatwoulddeposit
0.001 118 000gramsofsilverpersecondfromasilvernitratesolution.[12]Later,moreaccurate
measurementsrevealedthatthiscurrentis0.999 85A.

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Realization
Thestandardampereismostaccuratelyrealizedusingawattbalance,butisinpracticemaintainedvia
Ohm'slawfromtheunitsofelectromotiveforceandresistance,thevoltandtheohm,sincethelattertwo
canbetiedtophysicalphenomenathatarerelativelyeasytoreproduce,theJosephsonjunctionandthe
quantumHalleffect,respectively.[13]

Atpresent,techniquestoestablishtherealizationofanamperehavearelativeuncertaintyofapproximately
afewpartsin107,andinvolverealizationsofthewatt,theohmandthevolt.[13]

Proposedfuturedefinition
Ratherthanadefinitionintermsoftheforcebetweentwocurrentcarryingwires,ithasbeenproposedto
definetheampereintermsoftherateofflowofelementarycharges.[8]Sinceacoulombisapproximately
equalto6.241 5093 1018elementarycharges(suchaselectrons),oneampereisapproximatelyequivalent
to6.241 5093 1018elementarychargesmovingpastaboundaryinonesecond,orthereciprocalofthe
valueoftheelementarychargesincoulombs.[14]Theproposedchangewoulddefine1Aasbeingthe
currentinthedirectionofflowofaparticularnumberofelementarychargespersecond.In2005,the
InternationalCommitteeforWeightsandMeasures(CIPM)agreedtostudytheproposedchange.Thenew
definitionwasdiscussedatthe25thGeneralConferenceonWeightsandMeasures(CGPM)in2014butfor
thetimebeingwasnotadopted.

Everydayexamples
Thecurrentdrawnbytypicalconstantvoltageenergydistributionsystemsisusuallydictatedbythepower
(watts)consumedbythesystemandtheoperatingvoltage.Forthisreasontheexamplesgivenbeloware
groupedbyvoltagelevel.

Portabledevices

Hearingaid(typically1mWat1.4V):0.7mA

Motorvehicles12VDC

Atypicalmotorvehiclehasa12Vbattery.Thevariousaccessoriesthatarepoweredbythebatterymight
include:

Instrumentpanellight(typically2W):166mA.
Headlights(typically60W):5Aeach.
Startermotor(typically12kW):80160A

NorthAmericandomesticsupply120VAC

MostUnitedStates,CanadaandMexicodomesticpowersuppliersrunat120V.

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Householdcircuitbreakerstypicallyprovideamaximumof15Aor20Aofcurrenttoagivensetof
outlets.

22inch/56centimeterportabletelevision(35W):290mA
Tungstenlightbulb(60100W):500830mA
Toaster,kettle(1.5kW):12.5A
Hairdryer(1.8kW):15A

European&Commonwealthdomesticsupply230240VAC

MostEuropeandomesticpowersuppliesrunat230V,andmostCommonwealthdomesticpowersupplies
runat240V.Forthesameamountofpower(inwatts),thecurrentdrawnbyaparticularEuropeanor
Commonwealthappliance(inEuropeoraCommonwealthcountry)willbelessthanforanequivalent
NorthAmericanappliance.[Note1]Typicalcircuitbreakerswillprovide16A.

Thecurrentdrawnbyanumberoftypicalappliancesare:

22inch/56centimeterportabletelevision(35W):145150mA
Tungstenlightbulb(60100W):240450mA
Compactfluorescentlamp(1130W):56112mA
Toaster,kettle(2kW):9A
Immersionheater(4.6kW):1920A

Seealso
Ammeter
Ampacity(currentcarryingcapacity)
Electriccurrent
Electricshock
Hydraulicanalogy
Magneticconstant
Ordersofmagnitude(current)

Notes
1. Theformulaforpowerisgivenby

soitfollowsthatifthevoltageisdoubledandthepowerremainsthesame,thecurrentwillbehalved.

References
1. SIsupportsonlytheuseofsymbolsanddeprecatestheuseofabbreviationsforunits."BureauInternationaldes
PoidsetMesures"(PDF).2006.p.130.Retrieved21November2011.
2. "2.1.Unitofelectriccurrent(ampere)",SIbrochure(8thed.),BIPM,retrieved19November2011
3. Baseunitdefinitions:Ampere(http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/ampere.html).Physics.nist.gov.Retrievedon
20100928.

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4. "2.SIbaseunits",SIbrochure(8thed.),BIPM,retrieved19November2011
5. Theothersixarethemetre,kelvin,second,mole,candela,andkilogram
6. Bodanis,David(2005),ElectricUniverse,NewYork:ThreeRiversPress,ISBN9780307335982
7. Serway,RaymondAJewett,JW(2006).Serway'sprinciplesofphysics:acalculusbasedtext(Fourthed.).
Belmont,CA:ThompsonBrooks/Cole.p.746.ISBN053449143X.
8. BeyondtheKilogram:RedefiningtheInternationalSystemofUnits,USA:NationalInstituteofStandardsand
Technology,2006,archivedfromtheoriginalon21March2008,retrievedMarch2008.
9. Monk,PaulMS(2004),PhysicalChemistry:UnderstandingourChemicalWorld,JohnWiley&Sons,ISBN0
471491802.
10. TheInternationalSystemofUnits(SI)(PDF)(8thed.),BureauInternationaldesPoidsetMesures,2006,p.144.
11. Kowalski,L,AshorthistoryoftheSIunitsinelectricity,Montclair.
12. Historyoftheampere,Sizes
13. "Appendix2:Practicalrealizationofunitdefinitions:Electricalquantities",SIbrochure,BIPM.
14. "Value",Physics,USA:NIST.

Externallinks
TheNISTReferenceonConstants,Units,andUncertainty(http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/)
NISTDefinitionofampereand0(http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/ampere.html)
Tutorialvideoexplainingamperesandcurrent(http://afrotechmods.com/tutorials/2011/11/29/basic
electricityamps/)

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Categories: SIbaseunits Unitsofelectriccurrent

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