milliAM

milliAM is a unit of electric current equal to one thousandth of an ampere. It is commonly used to measure small currents, such as those found in electronic circuits or biological signals. The symbol for milliampere is mA.

The ampere, the base unit of electric current in the International System of Units (SI), is defined as the flow of one coulomb of electric charge per second. Therefore, one milliampere is equivalent to a flow of 0.001 coulombs per second.

In practical applications, milliampere measurements are essential for understanding and designing electronic devices. For example, the current drawn by a small LED might be in the tens of milliamperes, while a microcontroller might consume a few milliamperes. Battery capacities are often rated in milliampere-hours (mAh), which indicates the amount of charge a battery can deliver over time. A battery with a capacity of 1000 mAh can theoretically supply a current of 100 mA for 10 hours, or 10 mA for 100 hours.

The milliampere is also relevant in medical contexts. For instance, electrocardiograms (ECGs) measure the electrical activity of the heart, and the resulting currents are typically in the microampere to milliampere range. Similarly, some diagnostic tests and therapeutic electrical stimulation devices operate with currents measured in milliamperes.