From birth and throughout life, electrical appliances surround a person. These include: household appliances, the lighting of our homes and streets, mobile communications, even modern cars are switching to electricity. All these devices consume electric current, some take it from power grids, others draw it from batteries and accumulators, others from alternative energy sources (“windmills”, solar panels, etc.). And how many people know what is the unit of measurement of current strength, and what is electric current? In this article, we will answer these questions.
Let's start with the basic concepts. An electric current is a directed ordered movement of charged particles in a conductor. Consider the conditions for the existence of a current:
- presence of free electrons in a metallic conductor;
- the presence of an electric field (such a field is created due tocurrent source).
Now let's move on to the consideration of such a thing as a unit of measurement of current strength. This scalar value is denoted by the Latin letter I. The unit of current strength is determined by the ratio of the charge q passing through the cross section of a metal conductor to the time interval t during which the electric current passed through the conductor. Accordingly, the formula has the following form: I=q/ t. The unit of current strength shows how much charge will pass through the cross section of the wire per unit of time.
Everything is pretty elementary. Now let's look at what are the generally accepted units for measuring current strength. To do this, just look into the international system of units (SI). It follows from it that the unit of measurement of current strength is Ampere. This unit got its name in honor of the French mathematical physicist André-Marie Ampère (1775-1836). He introduced such terms as electrodynamics, electrostatics, solenoids, EMF, galvanometer, electric current, voltage and others. Scientist A. M. Amper predicted the emergence of such a science as "cybernetics", he became the discoverer of the mechanical interaction of conductors with electric current, introduced the rule for determining the directions of the current.
Now let's try to analyze this concept from the point of view of elementary physics. To do this, it is necessary to highlight the properties of the passage of electric current through two parallel conductors. If charged particles move along two wires in the same direction, then such conductors will begin to attract, and if the particles aremove in different directions, then the conductors will tend to repel each other. A unit of current strength of one ampere is considered to be such a force due to which two parallel wires one meter long, spaced one meter apart, will begin to interact with a force of 0.0000002N.
Summarizing, let's say that knowledge of such a concept as current strength will help determine the amount of energy consumed by electrical appliances. This makes it easy to calculate the wiring load in your home and, accordingly, protect your home from fire or damage to electrical equipment, which often occurs when household electrical appliances are not properly distributed.
