Volt, Ampere & Watt

What is the difference between the units of measurement for electricity: Volt Ampere and Watt? In other words, what is the difference between the voltage (V), intensity (A) and power (W)?

Volt (V)The unit of measurement is derived from the name of the Italian physicist, Alessandro Volta, the inventor of the electric battery in 1800.Volt is the unit of measurement of the electrical voltage in a circuit between point A and point B. As you may already know, electric current is just a movement of electrons. A current generator creates an imbalance to attract and repel the electrons. This is how the generator causes the electrons to move. The imbalance that arises is the electrical voltage. The larger it is, the faster the electric charge accelerates and the higher the voltage. Volt is the magnitude of the “pressure” that makes the electrons move.

Ampere (A)The unit of measurement is named after André-Marie Ampère, the inventor of the electromagnet.The ampere measures the intensity of the electric current, or in other words, the amount of electrons that pass through a conductor every second. Is this still Chinese for you? Then you can compare the movement of the electrons with the movement of water in a garden hose. The intensity (amperes) is then the current of the water. In both cases, the higher the pressure (voltage), the greater the flow (current).

Watt (W)The name of this unit of measurement refers to the Scottish engineer James Watt who developed the steam engine in the 18th century.Watt is the power of the electric current, the amount of energy per second. Let’s take the example of the garden hose again: the electrical power (in watts) would then be equal to the pressure in the hose when the faucet is closed (voltage in volts) multiplied by the water flow when the faucet is open (current in amps).

The electrical power of a device is the number of watts (W) required to operate it. To find the power you need, you need to multiply the current, or the amount of electricity consumed (amperes) by the electrical voltage. The greater the power of an electrical device, the more energy it produces (or consumes).