Electric current Electric current An electric current is a flow of electric charge. In electric circuits this charge is often carried by moving electrons in a wire. It can also be carried by ions in an electrolyte, or by both ions and electrons such as in an ionised gas (plasma). The SI unit for measuring an electric current is the ampere, which is the flow of electric charge across a surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. Electric current is measured using a device called an ammeter. Electric currents cause Joule heating, which creates light in incandescent light bulbs. They
Current density of the unit vectors. That is, the component of current density passing through the surface (i.e. normal to it) is , while the component of current density passing tangential to the area is , but there is "no" current density actually passing "through" the area in the tangential direction. The "only" component of current density passing normal to the area is the cosine component. Current density is important to the design of electrical and electronic systems. Circuit performance depends strongly upon the designed current level, and the current density then is determined by the dimensions of the conducting elements. For