Charges and current flow

Link to Chemistry

Atoms contain 3 types of particle:

Proton – Positive
Electron – Negative
Neutron – Neutral (No charge)

What does “Charge” mean when describing the properties of atoms and
their sub-atomic particles?
 Measuring charge
• Charge is measured in a unit of measure called a
coulomb (C) which is a capital letter in units as it was
named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
• The letter which is (confusingly) used in formulae for
charge is the letter Q
• Charge can move or flow (because the particles move)
if a force is applied to them and this is called a current

Can you remember the rules for attraction and repulsion of charges?

Opposites attract and like forces repel

 Understanding electrical current
• Electric current is a flow of charge
• This means that current is a measure of how
much charge flows per second
• One coulomb per second is called one ampere
of current, usually simply referred to as amps
(A),it can also be measured in milli-amps (mA)
and micro amps (µA).

• Although confusing, the letter given to current

flow in formulae is I
• An electric current flows when electrons move
through a conductor, such as a metal wire.
Metals are good conductors of electricity.
Ammeters
The main principle of ammeter is that it must have a very low resistance
because we do not want to change the current that is flowing through the
circuit.
Ammeter aims at measuring the current in the circuit, hence it is
connected in series so that the same current that is there in the circuit
flows through it and gets measured.

Digital Ammeter
Dial Ammeter
Mathematics and formulae
• Charge is measured in coulombs (C) and is given the letter Q in
formulae
• Current is the rate of flow of charge so it is measured in coulombs
per second which are also called amps (one amp is one coulomb per
second) and this is a letter I
• Remember that in maths “per” means “divide by” so we can write
this out as a formula:

Q
I= which rearranges to Q = It
t
Examples
• A current of 3.4A flows for 20s, how many coulombs of charge move?

Q = It = 3.4A ´ 20s = 68C

• A current of 2.5kA flows for 2 minutes, how many coulombs of charge
move?

Q = It = 2500A ´120s = 300,000C

Rearranging the formula
• A battery transfers 20,000 C in 3 minutes. What is the current flow?

Q = It
Q 20000C
I= = = 111.1A » 110A
t 180s
Summary
• Charge is measured in coulombs (C) and is given as a letter Q in
formulae
• Current is the flow of charge, measured in amps (A) and one amp is
one coulomb per second
• Charge is not used up in a circuit, it just flows round and round and
this can be better understood using a model or analogy
• The formula that links these units together is:

Q = It