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
Watt example "gigawatt electrical" (GW). The International Bureau of Weights and Measures, which maintains the SI-standard, states that further information about a quantity should not be attached to the unit symbol but instead to the quantity symbol (i.e., "P" = 270 W rather than "P" = 270 W) and so these units are non-SI. In compliance with SI the energy company DONG Energy uses the unit megawatt for produced electrical power and the equivalent unit megajoule/s for delivered heating power in a combined heat and power station such as Avedøre Power Station. When describing alternating current (AC) electricity, another distinction is