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So what is an amp? A quick recap, metals like copper have electrons that flow freely throughout

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the material, from atom to atom, even at room temperatures. And, as explained in the first

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video with the marble analogy, when electrons move from atom to atom, they displace other

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electrons already there, which then push other electrons, and so on, and so forth. These

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properties make metals excellent conductors. There are billions upon billions of electrons

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in even a single, simple copper wire. Now, when creating an electric current, it's useful

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to be able to measure this current. This is measured in amps, or ampere. One amp equals

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one coulomb per second. Ampere is the base unit of electric current, or how many electrons

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flow past a single point every second. One coulomb is the unit of electric charge, which

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is carried by approximately 6.24 x 10-18 electrons. That's 6.24 quintillion electrons flowing

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past a certain point every second. Two amps is double that number of electrons flowing

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past every second. 0.5 amps, or 500 milliamperes, is half that number of electrons per second.

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To put it into perspective, the adapter of my laptop requires an electric current of

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one amp, while the current in a lightning strike can vary from 5,000 to 50,000 amperes,

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depending on the strength of the storm.