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
Electric current wire he deduced that the heat produced was proportional to the square of the current multiplied by the electrical resistance of the wire. This relationship is known as Joule's First Law. The SI unit of energy was subsequently named the joule and given the symbol "J". The commonly known unit of power, the watt, is equivalent to one joule per second. In an electromagnet a coil, of a large number of circular turns of insulated wire, wrapped on a cylindrical core, behaves like a magnet when an electric current flows through it. When the current is switched off, the coil