UnitSnapElectric Current converter
Electric current is the rate of flow of electric charge. The SI base unit is the ampere (A). Since the 2019 SI redefinition, the ampere is defined by fixing the elementary charge at exactly 1.602176634 × 10⁻¹⁹ coulombs, so one ampere corresponds to a specific number of elementary charges passing per second.
Convert between 5 electric current units. Pick any two units below; results update as you type.
About electric current units
Milliamperes are typical for electronics and sensors, amperes for household circuits and appliances, and kiloamperes for welding, power transmission faults, and lightning. Older CGS systems used the abampere (EMU), equal to exactly 10 A, and the statampere (ESU), a tiny unit of about 3.34 × 10⁻¹⁰ A.
Before 2019, the ampere was defined through the magnetic force between two parallel wires. The new definition keeps the size of the unit essentially unchanged while tying it to a fundamental constant.
Tips
- Circuit breakers and fuses are rated in amperes; exceeding the rating trips or blows them for safety.
- Battery capacity in mAh or Ah measures charge, not current; it is current multiplied by time.
- CGS electrical units such as abamperes and statamperes appear mainly in older physics literature.
All electric current units
| Unit | Symbol | Value in milliamperes |
|---|---|---|
| Milliamperes | mA | 1 mA = 1 mA |
| Amperes | A | 1 A = 1,000 mA |
| Kiloamperes | kA | 1 kA = 1,000,000 mA |
| Abamperes | abA | 1 abA = 10,000 mA |
| Statamperes | statA | 1 statA = 3.33564E-7 mA |
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Factors: NIST SP 811 · SI Brochure · NIST Handbook 44 — Updated