What are Watts, Volts, and Amps?

Intro

My technical focus has been software for the majority of my career, but I am beginning a journey teaching myself hardware. I’m going to write on Medium as a way to keep track of my progress.

Volts

Water pressure is often used as an analogy for Voltage. In a conductor without any voltage applied, the free electrons move randomly in all directions without a net flow. However, when we apply voltage (which can be thought of as electrical pressure), it creates an electric field that causes these electrons to drift in a specific direction, resulting in an electric current.

Amps

Continuing with the water pressure analogy, when electrons drift in a specific direction due to voltage, the amount of electric charge flowing per second is measured in amps. Amps are a measure of current or how much charge passes through a wire or conductor each second.

Watts

Watts are power. More specifically, it is the rate at which energy is USED or PRODUCED. So Watts is the amount of electricity converted into another form of energy (heat, light, mechanical energy, etc.) per second. Things like light bulbs are rated using Watts to show the amount of power they use to produce light.

• 1 W = 1 J/s (1 Watt equals 1 Joule per second)
• Watts = Volts ⋅ Amps