Who found out there are 6.25x10^18 electrons in one amp. How was this discovered?

Answer 1

An interesting question, Vinnie. Here's what I think could be a reason for an amp to contain 6.25x10^18 electrons.

We know that, V=IR (Ohm's Law). If a potential difference of 1 volt (i.e., V=1) is created in a conductor of 1 ohm resistence (i.e., R=1), then the current flowing through the conductor is 1 amp (i.e., I=1). Now, we know that electric charge (Q) is quantized, i.e., charge occurs as a whole number multiple of the smallest unit of charge, called its quantum. Now, the quantum of electric charge is 'e', the charge in an electron, whose value is 1.6x10^-19 C. Let this amount of charge is passing through a conductor in 1 second. Then current produced in the conductor in 1 seond is 1.6x10^-19 amp (I=Q/t). Let us now apply unitary method to obtain the number of electrons in 1 amp:-

A current of 1.6x10^-19 amp is produced by 1 electron.
So, a current of 1 amp is produced by [1/(1.6x10^-19)] electrons
= 6.25x10^18 electrons

Thus we can say that there are 6.25x10^18 electrons in one amp.

Answer 2

It was not "discovered". an ampere is a unit of measurement invented by people. we came up with that measurement because if we just dealt with electrons in circuit equations, our numbers would be huge, so we came up with the "ampere".