One amp is equivalent to 1,000 milliamps, commonly denoted by the symbol mA. Amperage measures the amount of current flow in an electrical circuit in units of amperes, or amps.
Electrical current is a physical quantity that refers to the rate of an electrical charge flowing through a conductor relative to time. It is generated when negatively-charged particles called electrons are induced to move across a conductor in a unidirectional manner. The standard unit for measuring electrical current is Coulombs per second, also known as an ampere. One amp is equivalent to 6.24 x 1018 electrons per second.
Electricity can be measured using amperage in amps, voltage in volts and wattage in watts. Volts refer to the amount of pressure the electrons undergo in a circuit while watts pertain to electrical power, or the amount of work generated by the moving electrons. Amperage is computed by dividing wattage with voltage.
When a person comes in physical contact with an electrical source, the degree of electrical shock received by the person varies in relation to the amperage, duration and the pathway of electric current in the body. In a 60-cycle per second electric shock that courses from the hand to the foot, 1 mA can likely cause a faint prickly sensation, while a current greater than 2,000 mA may lead to heart failure, critical organ damage and possibly death.
