Amps and Volts

[perrybucsdad]

Why are amps expressed as I and volts expressed as E as their quantity units? This bugs me with the formulas I need to memorize for the test. Is there a latin word that starts with I for amps likewise for volts?

[LtDoc]

!
I'm not aware of any 'secret' meanings for those symbols. Since you have such an aversion to them I would think they should be very easy to remember. Maybe it's the other way around? A 'volt' was named after the discoverer of them, same for an 'ampere'. Mr. Volt and Mr. Ampere may not have been the original discoverers of them, but they got the credit. Blame them.
- 'Doc

[cknizeski]

Well "Volts" is a unit of measurement of Electromotive Force (EMF) Maybe that is why Volts is expressed as "E" As far amperage being "I" I cant guess.

[fineshot1]

Originally Posted by perrybucsdad

Why are amps expressed as I and volts expressed as E as their quantity units? This bugs me with the formulas I need to memorize for the test. Is there a latin word that starts with I for amps likewise for volts?

Why did you not look in the wikipedia under history?

Ohm's law - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[ab3a]

You have to remember when Ohm's Law was first discovered, scientists didn't necessarily speak English. Volta was Italian. Ampere was was French, and Ohm was German. The letters could have been based upon words from any of their languages.

[kb2vxa]

What's bugging you is why those letters are used, why care when it's the formula that matters? If simple formulas bug you wait until you get to higher math, it's all Greek.

[N8IAA]

Originally Posted by perrybucsdad

Why are amps expressed as I and volts expressed as E as their quantity units? This bugs me with the formulas I need to memorize for the test. Is there a latin word that starts with I for amps likewise for volts?

There are many local clubs in the greater Cleveland area that hold classes to get your license. My suggestion is that you take the classes to better understand what bothers you. It is simple algebra that determines how the math works. It only gets more involved
Larry

[majoco]

and Henry for inductance and Farads for capacitance and Siemens for conductance and Ohms for resistance and ...oh, where will it end......

[Token]

Originally Posted by perrybucsdad

Why are amps expressed as I and volts expressed as E as their quantity units? This bugs me with the formulas I need to memorize for the test. Is there a latin word that starts with I for amps likewise for volts?

As others have noted, the "names" we use for these units, Volts, Amperes, and Ohms, are designated after people important to the field (and why the words should properly be capitalized), and are not what the units were measured in or described as during the early days of investigation. They are not even what they are properly described as today (except resistance), but rather are working terms.

Voltage is Electromotive Force, so "E". Ohms are Resistance, so pretty easy to see the "R". Amperage is current and was originally noted as Intensite de Courrant in French. I think it was Andre-Marie Ampere that was the first to use symbol I in a formula, but it is pretty easy to see it comes from the "Intensite" part of the name (remember, French was the lingua franca of the day for many of the early researchers).

T!

[LtDoc]

And it all runs in cycles, which means it Hertz.
...yeah, I know, but couldn't resist.
- 'Doc

[perrybucsdad]

Okay, let me clarify... I don't have an issue with the formulas, but why Volt is E and not V, and why Amp is I, etc....

Also, I have signed up for one of the classes, I was just asking a general question as to why those letter for the variables were chosen.

For the Ohm's law, I memorized a long time ago Eagle, Indian & Rabbit to remember the formula from any perspective of the formula (e.g. The Indian sees the Eagle over the Rabbit or I = E/R)... the part that always tripped me up with the formula though was what I meant and what E meant. Eltromotive Force being volts makes sense for Volts know that I have been told about it. Same for I now that Token stated it may stand for "Intensite".

Thanks,

John

[kb2vxa]

"...and Siemens for conductance..."

Historical note: the original term was mho, ohm spelled backward because conductance is the reciprocal of resistance. If you come across a tube manual you'll see transconductance in micromhos because they were written before the change. So was The Sex Life Of An Electron, just change "Mho, mho cried Milli Amp" to... well, you get the picture. (;->)

[JnglMassiv]

The conventional symbol for current is I, which originates from the French phrase intensité de courant, or in English current intensity.
Electric current - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

[wtp]

just learn it like the rest or you will go mho-where
...all i got

[TheSpaceMan]

Is it true that the tern "insulation" came from a allow named Insul?