Statampere

The statampere (statA) is the derived electromagnetic unit of electric current in the CGS-ESU (electrostatic cgs) and Gaussian systems of units. :278 One statampere corresponds to $1/2$/$c$$3/2$ ampere ≈ $−2$ in the SI system of units.

The name statampere is a shortening of abstatampere, where the idea was that the prefix abstat should stand for absolute electrostatic and mean ‘belonging to the CGS-ESU (electrostatic cgs) absolute system of units’.

The esu-cgs (or "electrostatic cgs") units are one of several systems of electromagnetic units within the centimetre–gram–second system of units; others include CGS-EMU (or "electromagnetic cgs units"), Gaussian units, and Heaviside–Lorentz units. In the cgs-emu system, the unit of electric current is the abampere. The unit of current in the Heaviside–Lorentz system doesn't have a special name.

The other units in the cgs-esu and Gaussian systems related to the statampere are:


 * statcoulomb – the charge that passes in one second through any cross-section of a conductor carrying a steady current of one statampere
 * statvolt – the electrostatic potential difference such that moving a charge of one statcoulomb through it at constant speed requires one erg of work to be done.
 * statohm – the resistance of a conductor that, with a constant current of one statampere through it, maintains between its terminals a potential difference of one statvolt