No subject

[Keith Rowland]

During his experiments which led to his formulation of "Ohm's Law," Georg Simon
Ohm referred to the current in a circuit as "intensity," hence the "I" which is
still the usual designator for current.

I notice, however, that in some publications, "A" is now being used for current
(which makes more sense, because it is named after Ampere, a contemporary of
Ohm's), and NASA (and possibly some others) uses "V" instead of "E" for voltage.
The "E" derives from the term, "electromotive force," as you no doubt are aware,
whereas "V" is the initial of another early experimenter in the field, Alexandre
Volta, as also no doubt everyone knows.

Anyway, here is the "I" question answered.

Keith

Pete Petersen wrote:

> Please, someone, tell me why in formulas the letter "I" stands for
> current. Might it be the first letter of an obscure word or phrase? I was
> asked about it by a teenager studying for a ham license. I didn't know
> and couldn't find an answer for him in any of my books.
>
> Thanks,
>
> Pete Petersen
>
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