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
2019 redefinition of SI base units effect of redefining the SI base units, though the definitions of the SI derived units in terms of the base units remain the same. Following the CCU proposal, the text of the definitions of all the base units was either refined or rewritten changing the emphasis from explicit-unit to explicit-constant type definitions. Explicit-unit type definitions define a unit in terms of a specific example of that unit – for example in 1324 Edward II defined the inch as being the length of three barleycorns and since 1889 the kilogram has been defined as being the mass of the International Prototype