Lectures on Physics has been derived from Benjamin Crowell's Light and Matter series of free introductory textbooks on physics. See the editorial for more information....

Number of electrons flowing through a lightbulb

Question:

If a lightbulb has 1.0 A flowing through it, how many electrons will pass through the filament in 1.0 s?

Solution:

We are only calculating the number of electrons that flow, so we can ignore the positive and negative signs. Solving the definition of current, I = Δq / Δt, for Δq = I Δt gives a charge of 1.0 C flowing in this time interval. The number of electrons is




Last Update: 2010-11-11