coulomb
Sign in to saveThe coulomb (symbol: C) is the unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined to be equal to the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere current in 1 second, with the elementary charge e as a defining constant in the SI.
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A coulomb is the standard unit used to measure the amount of electric charge, similar to how a kilogram measures weight. It's defined as the amount of charge that flows when an electric current of 1 ampere runs for 1 second, making it essential for quantifying and calculating electricity in science and engineering.
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Key facts
- Unit.name
- coulomb
- Unit.image
- Coulomb diagram.svg
- Unit.imagesize
- 300px
- Unit.caption
- Diagram showing 1 coulomb (electric charge carried by a current of 1 ampere during 1 second) and the equivalent number of electrons
- Unit.standard
- SI
- Unit.quantity
- electric charge
- Unit.symbol
- C
- Unit.namedafter
- Charles-Augustin de Coulomb
- Unit.units1
- SI base units
- Unit.inunits1
- A⋅s
- Unit.units2
- CGS units
- Unit.inunits2
- ≘
Article
7 sectionsContents
- Definition
- SI prefixes
- Conversions
- In everyday terms
- Name and history
- See also
- Notes and references
The coulomb (symbol: C) is the unit of electric charge in the International System of Units (SI). It is defined to be equal to the electric charge delivered by a 1 ampere current in 1 second, with the elementary charge e as a defining constant in the SI.
== Definition == The SI defines the coulomb as "the quantity of electricity carried in 1 second by a current of 1 ampere" by fixing the value of the elementary charge, . Inverting the relationship, the coulomb can be expressed in terms of the elementary charge: 1 ~ \mathrm{C} = \frac{e}{1.602\,176\,634 \times 10^{-19}} \approx 6.241509\times 10^{18} ~ e .