Coulomb
The coulomb (sometimes written C) is the SI unit of electric charge. It is named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb.
| Coulomb | |
|---|---|
 Value of 1 coulomb, amount of electric charge at 1 ampere per 1 second | |
| General information | |
| Unit system | SI base unit |
| Unit of | electric charge |
| Symbol | C |
A coulomb is a quantity of electric charge. The movement of electric charge is called current in an electric circuit. For example, a flashlight bulb that has a current of one ampere will pass one coulomb of charge every second. So in ten seconds, ten coulombs have passed through the light bulb.[source?]
In an electric wire the charge that moves is in a particle called the electron. Each electron has a very small electric charge of negative one elementary charge. The elementary charge is the smallest electric charge found in a stable particle. A coulomb is equal to 6,241,509,629,152,650,000 elementary charges. The coulomb was named in honor of Charles-Augustin de Coulomb who worked on understanding electric charge in the late 1700s.[source?]
Technical Definition:
1 coulomb is the amount of electric charge carried by a current of 1 ampere flowing for 1 second.
