Help understanding coulombs and amperes

[Spork Schivago]

Hi. I've been trying to learn how to build electronic circuits. I've been using a tutorial I found on the net (http://www.physicsclassroom.com/clas...ial-Difference) and I'm getting a little confused. I'm trying to understand exactly what a coulomb and an ampere is. I've googled it and came across these definitions:

A coulomb is a unit of electric charge, equal to the quantity of electricity conveyed in one second by a current of one ampere.

An ampere is a unit of electric current equal to a flow of one coulomb per second. Essentially, the rate of electron flow or current in a conductor.

This is where I get confused. A coulomb is the amount of charge that passes a given point when 1 ampere of current passes through that point in one second. If you replace the word ampere with the definition of ampere, it gets a bit confusing.

A coulomb is the amount of charge that passes a given point when a unit of electric current equal to a flow of one coulomb per second of current passes through that point in one second.

You see where I'm getting confused? The definition of a coulomb talks about amperes and the definition of amperes talks about coulombs. Could someone please help me understand what exactly a coulomb is? Thank you.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Help understanding coulombs and amperes

It doesn't have to be that complicated, although the definitions are correct. Think of it in terms of amount and amount over time.

An ampere is an expression of the quantity (how much) of electrical current.
A coulomb is that quantity of electrical current over one second (how much over time).

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Help understanding coulombs and amperes

It doesn't have to be that complicated, although the definitions are correct. Think of it in terms of amount and amount over time.

An ampere is an expression of the quantity (how much) of electrical current.
A coulomb is that quantity of electrical current over one second (how much over time).

Thank you so much! That's nice and easy to understand! I really appreciate it!

[stj]

Re: Help understanding coulombs and amperes

"A coulomb is that quantity of electrical current over one second (how much over time)."
lol
never heard the term before and never needed to know.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Help understanding coulombs and amperes

I explained it backwards. Sorry. Coulomb is the quantity, ampere is the quantity over time. It is inherently confusing since they are two different terms describing the same phenomena. You can't have a current flow independent of time.

[SteveNielsen]

Re: Help understanding coulombs and amperes

"A coulomb is that quantity of electrical current over one second (how much over time)."
lol
never heard the term before and never needed to know.

What term? Coulomb? It's not used that much in electronics except to define the ampere. And vice versa. It gets into physics and math that's beyond me when they start saying that basically one equals the other in not so many words. You're right, it's best just to ignore it...

[Spork Schivago]

Re: Help understanding coulombs and amperes

Thanks for the replies. I changed my definition in my notebook to reflect the changes you said SteveNielsen. I figured if I had a good foundation, if I understood how it all worked, it'd make it a bit easier when I started learning about more complicated stuff. The tutorial I found seems to be more physics based, which is fine. Some of the definitions though, I have to google them to get a better understanding of what exactly they are. The way they defined coulombs and amperes was a bit confusing. Your explanation was nice and simple. Maybe I should look for another tutorial. Thanks again for helping guys! I really appreciate it.