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Electrical Terms for the Techie
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Ampere
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To be real technical, an ampere is really a certain quantity of electrons (the invisible bits that actually do the moving) that pass by a given spot in the circuit in a second. Specifically, one coulomb (a huge bunch of electrons) per second.
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Volt
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Engineers talk about voltage in really weird terms. They say that voltage is actually difference in potential. A good way to think of it is by imagining an incline, such as a board propped up on a stack of books. The more books, the steeper the angle, and the greater the potential (for movement of, say a marble) exists between the high and low ends of the board.
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It is helpful to think of amps versus volts in these terms. Amps is like the water flowing out of the faucet. As a moving thing, it is easy to monitor, and changes in flow show up quickly. Volts on the other hand changes slowly. A charging system fault will make the battery's voltage drop, but it will not show up immediately, simply because the voltage will not drop very quickly.
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