Electric current

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This editable Main Article is under development and subject to a disclaimer.

[edit intro]

Electric current refers to the flow of electric charge, for example, electrons through a conductor, or ions in a plasma. Electric current creates a magnetic field, and a time-varying electric current generates an electromagnetic wave, as described by Maxwell's equations.

The SI unit for electric current is the ampere.

## Electron flow[edit]

In practical circuit theory, current is considered as a flow of positive electric charge from nodes of higher electric potential to nodes of lower electric potential. However, the direction of electron flow in a current is from lower to higher electric potential, because the electron has a negative charge.