abfarad

An abfarad is the unit of electrical capacitance in the electromagnetic CGS (centimeter–gram–second) system, part of the CGS-EMU family of electrostatic and electromagnetic units. It is a derived unit that relates charge and voltage within that system, defined by the relation C = Q/V, where Q is measured in abcoulombs and V in abvolts. Accordingly, 1 abfarad is the capacitance that would store one abcoulomb of charge at one abvolt of potential difference.

In the CGS-EMU framework, the abfarad is the counterpart to the farad in the SI system. The electromagnetic CGS units, including the abampere (current), abvolt (voltage), and abcoulomb (charge), are interrelated through the same dimensional formula for capacitance, but their numerical values differ from SI units due to the underlying unit definitions. As a result, direct conversion between abfarads and farads involves historical CGS-EMU conversion factors and is not as straightforward as SI unit conversions.

Usage and status: The abfarad is an obsolete unit, largely of historical interest. It appears in older literature on CGS-based electrodynamics and in discussions of alternative unit systems. Today, the farad in SI is the standard unit of capacitance, and the CGS-EMU units, including the abfarad, are rarely used outside historical or theoretical discussions of unit systems.

See also: farad, statfarad, abvolt, abcoulomb, abampere.