4.1 Charge and Current

Subdecks (1)

Cards (14)

  • Electric current is the rate of flow of charge

    I = Q/t
  • One coulomb is the amount of charge passing a point in 1s when the current is 1A
  • The magnitude of charge on an object is expressed as:
    Q= + or - n * e
  • Kirchhoff's first law states that the sum of currents entering a junction is equal to the sum of currents leaving the junction
    This is a statement of the conservation of charge
  • We refer to charges of ions(+1, -1) as quantised numbers, and are represented as integer multiples of the elementary charge e = 1.60 * 10^-19
  • Current is:
    The movement of electrons in conductors
    The movement of ions in Electrolytes
  • Direction of conventional current is positive terminal to the negative terminal
    Electron flow is from the negative terminal to the positive terminal