What is Current?
An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge past a region. The moving particles are called charge carriers, which may be one of several types of particles, depending on the conductor. In electric circuits the charge carriers are often electrons moving through a wire. In semiconductors they can be electrons or holes. In an electrolyte the charge carriers are ions, while in plasma, an ionized gas, electric current is formed by both electrons and ions.
The SI unit of electric current is the Ampere, or Amp, which is the flow of electric charge across a surface at the rate of one coulomb per second. The Ampere (symbol: A) is an SI base unit. Electric current is measured using a device called an Ammeter.
