The statampere (statA) is the derived electromagnetic unit of electric current in the CGS-ESU (electrostatic cgs) and Gaussian systems of units.[1]:278One statampere corresponds to 10/ccgs ampere[Note 1] ≈ 3.33564×10−10 ampere in the SI system of units.
| statampere | |
|---|---|
| Unit system | CGS-ESU and Gaussian[1]:278 |
| Unit of | electric current[1]:278 |
| Symbol | statA[1]:278 |
| Named after | A.-M. Ampère |
| In CGS base units | g1/2⋅cm3/2⋅s−2 [2]:26 |
| Conversions | |
| 1 statA in ... | ... corresponds to ... |
| SI base units | 10/ccgs ampere ≈ 3.33564×10−10 ampere[Note 1][3]:16[2]:26 |
| CGS-EMU | 1/ccgs abampere ≈3.33564×10−11 abampere[3]:16 |
The name statampere is a shortening of abstatampere, where the idea was that the prefix abstat should stand for absolute electrostatic and mean ‘belonging to the CGS-ESU (electrostatic cgs) absolute system of units’.[Note 2]
The esu-cgs (or "electrostatic cgs") units are one of several systems of electromagnetic units within the centimetre–gram–second system of units; others include CGS-EMU (or "electromagnetic cgs units"), Gaussian units, and Heaviside–Lorentz units. In the cgs-emu system, the unit of electric current is the abampere. The unit of current in the Heaviside–Lorentz system doesn't have a special name.
The other units in the cgs-esu and Gaussian systems related to the statampere are:
- statcoulomb – the charge that passes in one second through any cross-section of a conductor carrying a steady current of one statampere
- statvolt – the electrostatic potential difference such that moving a charge of one statcoulomb through it at constant speed requires one erg of work to be done.
- statohm – the resistance of a conductor that, with a constant current of one statampere through it, maintains between its terminals a potential difference of one statvolt