SI derived unit of electric charge

The coulomb (symbol: C) is the International System of Units (SI) unit of electric charge. Under the 2019 redefinition of the SI base units, which took effect on 20 May 2019,[2] the coulomb is exactly 1/1.602176634×10−19 (approximately 6.2415090744×1018, or 1.036×10−5 mol) elementary charges. The same number of electrons has the same magnitude but opposite sign of charge, that is, a charge of −1 C.

Name and notation [ edit ]

The coulomb is named after Charles-Augustin de Coulomb. As with every SI unit named for a person, its symbol starts with an upper case letter (C), but when written in full it follows the rules for capitalisation of a common noun; i.e., "coulomb" becomes capitalised at the beginning of a sentence and in titles, but is otherwise in lower case.[3]

Definition [ edit ]

The SI system defines the coulomb in terms of the ampere and second: 1 C = 1 A × 1 s.[4] The 2019 redefinition of the ampere and other SI base units fixed the numerical value of the elementary charge when expressed in coulombs, and therefore fixed the value of the coulomb when expressed as a multiple of the fundamental charge (the numerical values of those quantities are the multiplicative inverses of each other). The ampere is defined by taking the fixed numerical value of the elementary charge e to be 1.602176634×10−19 coulomb.[5]

Thus, one coulomb is the charge of 6241509074460762607.776 elementary charges, where the number is the reciprocal of 1.602176634×10−19 C.[6]

By 1873, the British Association for the Advancement of Science had defined the volt, ohm, and farad, but not the coulomb.[7] In 1881, the International Electrical Congress, now the International Electrotechnical Commission (IEC), approved the volt as the unit for electromotive force, the ampere as the unit for electric current, and the coulomb as the unit of electric charge.[8] At that time, the volt was defined as the potential difference [i.e., what is nowadays called the "voltage (difference)"] across a conductor when a current of one ampere dissipates one watt of power. The coulomb (later "absolute coulomb" or "abcoulomb" for disambiguation) was part of the EMU system of units. The "international coulomb" based on laboratory specifications for its measurement was introduced by the IEC in 1908. The entire set of "reproducible units" was abandoned in 1948 and the "international coulomb" became the modern Coulomb.[9]

SI prefixes [ edit ]

SI multiples of coulomb (C) Submultiples Multiples Value SI symbol Name Value SI symbol Name 10−1 C dC decicoulomb 101 C daC decacoulomb 10−2 C cC centicoulomb 102 C hC hectocoulomb 10−3 C mC millicoulomb 103 C kC kilocoulomb 10−6 C µC microcoulomb 106 C MC megacoulomb 10−9 C nC nanocoulomb 109 C GC gigacoulomb 10−12 C pC picocoulomb 1012 C TC teracoulomb 10−15 C fC femtocoulomb 1015 C PC petacoulomb 10−18 C aC attocoulomb 1018 C EC exacoulomb 10−21 C zC zeptocoulomb 1021 C ZC zettacoulomb 10−24 C yC yoctocoulomb 1024 C YC yottacoulomb Common multiples are in bold face.

See also Metric prefix.

Conversions [ edit ]

The magnitude of the electrical charge of one mole of elementary charges (approximately 6.022 × 10 23 , the Avogadro number) is known as a faraday unit of charge (closely related to the Faraday constant). One faraday equals 96 485 .332 12 ... coulombs. [10] In terms of the Avogadro constant ( N A ), one coulomb is equal to approximately 1.036 × 10 −5 mol × N A elementary charges.

, the Avogadro number) is known as a faraday unit of charge (closely related to the Faraday constant). One faraday equals coulombs. In terms of the Avogadro constant ( ), one coulomb is equal to approximately × elementary charges. One ampere hour equals 3600 C, hence 1 mA⋅h = 3.6 C.

= 3.6 C. One statcoulomb (statC), the obsolete CGS electrostatic unit of charge (esu), is approximately 3.3356 × 10− 10 C or about one-third of a nanocoulomb.

In everyday terms [ edit ]

The charges in static electricity from rubbing materials together are typically a few microcoulombs. [11]

The amount of charge that travels through a lightning bolt is typically around 15 C, although for large bolts this can be up to 350 C. [12]

The amount of charge that travels through a typical alkaline AA battery from being fully charged to discharged is about 5 kC = 5000 C ≈ 1400 mA⋅h.[13]

See also [ edit ]