Coulomb
| Coulomb | |
|---|---|
| Unit system | SI derived unit |
| Unit of | Electric charge |
| Symbol | C |
| Named after | Charles-Augustin de Coulomb |
| Conversions | |
| 1 C in ... | ... is equal to ... |
| SI base units | A⋅s |
| CGS units | 2997924580 statC |
| Atomic units | 6.24150934(14)e×1018[1] |
The coulomb (symbol: C) is the International System of Units (SI) unit of electric charge. It is the charge (symbol: Q or q) transported by a constant current of one ampere in one second:
Thus, it is also the amount of excess charge on a capacitor of one farad charged to a potential difference of one volt:
It is equivalent to the charge of approximately 6.242×1018 (1.036×10−5 mol) protons, and −1 C is equivalent to the charge of approximately 6.242×1018 electrons.
Name and notation
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.[2]
Definition
The SI system defines the coulomb in terms of the ampere and second: 1 C = 1 A × 1 s.[3] The second is defined in terms of a frequency naturally emitted by caesium atoms.[4] The ampere is defined using Ampère's force law;[5] the definition relies in part on the mass of the international prototype kilogram, a metal cylinder housed in France.[6] In practice, the watt balance is used to measure amperes with the highest possible accuracy.[6]
Since the charge of one electron is known to be about 1.602176634×10−19 C,[7] 1 C can also be considered the charge of roughly 6.241509×1018 electrons (or +1 C the charge of that many positrons or protons), where the number is the reciprocal of 1.602177×10−19.
The proposed redefinition of the ampere and other SI base units would have the effect of fixing the numerical value of the elementary charge to an explicit constant expressed in coulombs, and therefore it would implicitly fix 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).
SI prefixes
| 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 |
| 10−27 C | rC | rontocoulomb | 1027 C | RC | ronnacoulomb |
| 10−30 C | qC | quectocoulomb | 1030 C | QC | quettacoulomb |
| Common multiples are in bold face. | |||||
See also SI prefix.
Conversions
- One coulomb is the magnitude (absolute value) of electrical charge in 6.24150934(14)×1018 protons or electrons.[1]
- The inverse of this number gives the elementary charge of 1.602176634×10−19 C.[7]
- The magnitude of the electrical charge of one mole of elementary charges (approximately 6.022×1023, or Avogadro's number) is known as a faraday unit of charge (closely related to the Faraday constant). One faraday equals 96485.3399 coulombs. In terms of Avogadro's number (NA), one coulomb is equal to approximately 1.036 × NA×10−5 elementary charges.
- One ampere-hour = 3600 C, 1 mA⋅h = 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.
Relation to elementary charge
The elementary charge, the charge of a proton (equivalently, the negative of the charge of an electron), is approximately 1.602176634×10−19 C[7]. In SI, the elementary charge in coulombs is an approximate value: no experiment can be infinitely accurate. However, in other unit systems, the elementary charge has an exact value by definition, and other charges are ultimately measured relative to the elementary charge.[8] For example, in conventional electrical units, the values of the Josephson constant KJ and von Klitzing constant RK are exact defined values (written KJ-90 and RK-90), and it follows that the elementary charge e = 2/(KJRK) is also an exact defined value in this unit system.[8] Specifically, e90 = (2×10−9)/(25812.807 × 483597.9) C exactly.[8] SI itself may someday change its definitions in a similar way.[8] For example, one possible proposed redefinition is "the ampere...is [defined] such that the value of the elementary charge e (charge on a proton) is exactly 1.602176487×10−19 coulombs",[9] (in which the numeric value is the 2006 CODATA recommended value, since superseded). This proposal is not yet accepted as part of the SI.
In everyday terms
- The charges in static electricity from rubbing materials together are typically a few microcoulombs.[10]
- The amount of charge that travels through a lightning bolt is typically around 15 C, although large bolts can be up to 350 C.[11]
- 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.[12]
- The hydraulic analogy uses everyday terms to illustrate movement of charge and the transfer of energy. The analogy equates charge to a volume of water, and voltage to pressure. One coulomb equals (the negative of) the charge of 6.24×1018 electrons. The amount of energy transferred by the flow of 1 coulomb can vary; for example, 300 times fewer electrons flow through a lightning bolt than in the discharge of an AA battery, but the total energy transferred by the flow of the lightning's electrons is 300 million times greater.
See also
- Abcoulomb, a cgs unit of charge
- Ampère's circuital law
- Coulomb's law
- Electrostatics
- Elementary charge
- Faraday (unit), an obsolete unit
- Quantity of electricity
Notes and references
- ^ a b 6.24150934(14)×1018 is the reciprocal of the 2010 CODATA recommended value 1.602176565(35)×10−19 for the elementary charge in coulomb.
- ^ "SI Brochure, Appendix 1," (PDF). BIPM. p. 144.
- ^ "SI brochure, section 2.2.2". BIPM.
- ^ "SI brochure, section 2.2.1.3". BIPM.
- ^ "SI brochure, section 2.2.1.4". BIPM.
- ^ a b "Watt Balance". BIPM.
- ^ a b c "2022 CODATA Value: elementary charge". The NIST Reference on Constants, Units, and Uncertainty. NIST. May 2024. Retrieved 2024-05-18.
- ^ a b c d Mills, I. M.; Mohr, P. J.; Quinn, T. J.; Taylor, B. N.; Williams, E. R. (2005). "Redefinition of the kilogram: a decision whose time has come". Metrologia. 42 (2): 71. Bibcode:2005Metro..42...71M. doi:10.1088/0026-1394/42/2/001.
- ^ Report of the CCU to the 23rd CGPM
- ^ Martin Karl W. Pohl. "Physics: Principles with Applications" (PDF). DESY.
- ^ Hasbrouck, Richard. Mitigating Lightning Hazards, Science & Technology Review May 1996. Retrieved on 2009-04-26.
- ^ How to do everything with digital photography – David Huss, p. 23, at Google Books, "The capacity range of an AA battery is typically from 1100–2200 mAh."
