unit of measurement
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Also known as: A, amp
Written and fact-checked by
The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica
Last Updated:•Article History
Category: Science & Tech
- Related Topics:
- International System of Units
- electric current
- unit
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ampere, unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI), used by both scientists and technologists. In 2018 the General Conference on Weights and Measures (CGPM) agreed that on May 20, 2019, the ampere would henceforth be defined such that the elementary charge would be equal to 1.602176634 × 10−19 coulomb. Earlier the ampere was defined as the constant current which, if maintained in two straight parallel conductors of infinite length of negligible circular cross section and placed one metre apart in a vacuum, would produce between these conductors a force equal to 2 × 10−7 newton per metre of length. Named for 19th-century French physicist André-Marie Ampère, it represents a flow of one coulomb of electricity per second. A flow of one ampere is produced in a resistance of one ohm by a potential difference of one volt. See electric current.
The Editors of Encyclopaedia BritannicaThis article was most recently revised and updated by Erik Gregersen.
