Units of Electricity

If electrons are the main source of electricity why isn't electricity measured by number of electrons but by their charge?
- Muhammad Khalifa (age 18)
Egypt

People began to make electrical measurements long before they knew about electrons. So the basic units for current and charge were already established when the electron's charge was first measured. For special problems, one can use a different set of units based on the electron charge, if it's convenient.

Mike W.

(published on 11/09/2012)