Difference between volt and amp
Volt vs Amp:
Electricity is the set of physical phenomena associated with the presence and flow of electric charge. Electricity gives a wide variety of well-known effects, such as lightning, static electricity, electromagnetic induction and the flow of electrical current. In addition, electricity permits the creation and reception of electromagnetic radiation such as radio waves. There are different measurements to measure electricity. Volt, amp, watt, ohm are some. Most of us often confuse volt and amp. To help get rid of this confusion, this article provide differences between volt and amp.
What is volt?
The volt (symbolized V) is the Standard International (SI) unit of electric potential or electromotive force. A potential of one volt appears across a resistance of one ohm when a current of one ampere flows through that resistance. Reduced to SI base units, 1 V = 1 kg times m2 times s-3 times A-1 (kilogram meter squared per second cubed per ampere). Voltage is the potential energy that makes the electrical current flow in a circuit by pushing the electrons around. The unit of voltage is volt shown as ‘v’. To be more accurate, one Volt is equal to one Joule of energy that can move one Coulomb of electrical charge. For a steady source of direct-current (DC) electric potential, such as that from a zinc-carbon or alkaline electrochemical cell, the average and instantaneous voltages are both approximately +1.5 V if the negative terminal is considered the common ground; the rms voltage is 1.5 V. For standard utility alternating current (AC), the average voltage is zero (the polarity constantly reverses); the instantaneous voltage ranges between approximately -165 V and +165 V; the rms voltage is nominally 117 V. In 1800, as the result of a professional disagreement over the galvanic response advocated by Luigi Galvani, Alessandro Volta developed the so-called Voltaic pile, a forerunner of the battery, which produced a steady electric current. Volta had determined that the most effective pair of dissimilar metals to produce electricity is zinc and silver. This SI unit is named after Alessandro Volta. As with every International System of Units (SI) unit whose name is derived from the proper name of a person, the first letter of its symbol is upper case (V). When an SI unit is spelled out in English, it should always begin with a lower case letter (volt), except where any word would be capitalized, such as at the beginning of a sentence or in capitalized material such as a title.
What is amp?
An ampere is a unit of measure of the rate of electron flow or current in an electrical conductor. One ampere of current represents one coulomb of electrical charge (6.24 x 1018 charge carriers) moving past a specific point in one second. Physicists consider current to flow from relatively positive points to relatively negative points; this is called conventional current or Franklin current. The ampere (SI unit symbol: A), often shortened to amp, is the SI unit of electric current (quantity symbol: I,i) and is one of the seven SI base units. It is named after André-Marie Ampère (1775–1836), French mathematician and physicist, considered the father of electrodynamics. The ampere was originally defined as one tenth of the CGS system electromagnetic unit of current (now known as the abampere), the amount of current that generates a force of two dynes per centimetre of length between two wires one centimetre apart. The size of the unit was chosen so that the units derived from it in the MKSA system would be conveniently sized. The ampere is named after Andre Marie Ampere, French physicist (1775-1836). Speaking practically, the voltage level provided by an electrical service, combined with the ampacity rating of the service panel determine how much electrical demand, or in another sense how many electrical devices can be run at one time in the building. Sketch courtesy of Carson Dunlop Associates. Ampacity, in the electrical code, refers to the current, measured in amperes, that a conductor (a wire) can carry continuously under the conditions of use without exceeding its temperature rating – in other words, the ampacity of a #14 gauge copper wire intended for residential electrical wiring is 15 Amps because that’s the amount of current that the wire can carry without getting too hot. “Too hot” means a temperature that could damage the wire insulation and thus reduce its safety.
What is the difference between amp and volt?
Amps and volts measure totally different things. For example, particle accelerators usually have starting sections with voltages in the millions of volts, but if that section of the chamber does not have any particles to move and create a current, the “Amps” are zero. Voltage measures a “desire” for charged particles to move, while current (number of amps) measures the actual number of charged particles that are moving (per second past any point). As an analogy, imagine you are driving to the superbowl in your car. There are tens of thousands of other people out on the road too, heading in the same direction for the same reason. The “Voltage” here is the desire of all these people to get to the stadium. The “current” is the speed with which they are getting there, which could be pretty small if traffic was really bad. Although we can’t necessarily see electricity, we can measure it by its effects. An ampere, or amp, represents the amount of current in a circuit. Voltage is defined scientifically as the circuit’s “potential difference,” and can be seen as the amount of “pressure” that drives electricity in a circuit. Power sources are often labelled by how many volts it has while you can only get the number of amps when you apply the power source to a circuit.
Voltage is not the stored energy. A battery can have almost the same voltage when half charged as when fully charged with twice the stored energy. Voltage is the electromotive force (or pressure) of the charge. Amperage is the volume of the current (or flow) of the charge. Example: An unconnected car battery will have approximately 12 volts and 0 amps. If that battery is connected to a 120 watt headlight it will still have about 12 volts and produce a current of 10 amps. If a second light of the same type is connected the voltage would still be near 12 volts, but the current would increase to near 20 amps. Voltage x amps = watts, the power produced.