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Find sources: "Orders of magnitude" current – news · newspapers · books · scholar · JSTOR (January 2020) (Learn how and when to remove this message) |
To help compare different orders of magnitude, the following list describes various ampere levels.
| Factor (ampere) | Value | Item |
|---|---|---|
| 10−19 | 160 zA | Current flow of one electron per second |
| 10−12 | 1-15 pA | Range of currents associated with single ion channels [calcium (1 pA), sodium (10-14 pA), potassium (6 pA)] as measured by patch-clamp studies of biological membranes |
| 10−5 | 10 μA | Minimum current necessary to cause death (by ventricular fibrillation when applied directly across the human heart)[1] |
| 10−4 | 700μA | Portable hearing aid (typically 1 mW at 1.4 V) |
| 10−3 | 1 – 5mA | Cathode ray tube electron gun beam current[2] |
| 10−2 | 10mA | Through the hand to foot may cause a person to freeze and be unable to let go[1] |
| 20mA | Common light-emitting diode (constant current); also deadly limit for skin contact (at 120–230 V) | |
| 80mA | Upper limit for TENS modeled for 500 Ω[3] | |
| 10−1 | 150mA | 230 V AC, 22-inch/56-centimeter portable television (35 W) |
| 166mA | Typical 12 V motor vehicle instrument panel light | |
| 250 – 450mA | 230 V AC Tungsten incandescent light bulb (60–100 W) | |
| 290mA | 120 V AC, 22-inch/56-centimeter portable television (35 W) | |
| 500 – 830mA | 120 V AC Tungsten incandescent light bulb (60–100 W) | |
| 100 | 1A | Typical iPhone charger (5 W) |
| 1.35A | Tesla coil, 0.76 meters (2 ft 6 in) high, at 200 kV and 270 kV peak[4] | |
| 2.1A | High power LED current (peak 2.7 A)[5] | |
| 5A | One typical 12 V motor vehicle headlight (typically 60 W) | |
| 9A | 230 V AC, toaster, kettle (2 kW) | |
| 101 | 10 or 20A | 230 V AC, Europe common domestic circuit breaker rating |
| 15 or 20A | 120 V AC, United States, Canada and Mexico domestic circuit breaker rating | |
| 16.6A | 120 V AC, toaster, kettle (2 kW) | |
| 20A | 230 V AC, Immersion heater (4.6 kW) | |
| 24A | 12V DC, PC, High-performance graphics card (288W) | |
| 38.3A | 120 V AC, Immersion heater (4.6 kW) | |
| 102 | 80-160A | Typical 12 V motor vehicle starter motor (typically 1–2 kW) |
| 80-375A | TIG welding arc[6] | |
| 166A | 400 V low voltage secondary side distribution transformer with primary 12 kV; 200 kVA (up to 1000 kVA also common)[7] | |
| 103 | 2kA | 10.5 kV secondary side from an electrical substation with primary 115 kV; 63 MVA[8] |
| 9.3 kA | 2.7V, Ultracapacitor short circuit current[9] | |
| 104 | 25 kA | Lorentz force can crusher pinch[10] |
| 30 kA | Typical lightning strike | |
| 105 | 100 kA | Low range of Birkeland current that creates Earth's aurorae |
| 140 kA | "Sq" current of one daytime vortex within the ionospheric dynamo region | |
| 180 kA | Typical current used in electric arc furnace for ferroalloys[11] | |
| 106 | 1 MA | High range of Birkeland current |
| 5 MA | Flux tube between Jupiter and Io (moon)[12] | |
| 26 MA | Sandia National Laboratories, Z machine approximate firing current[13] since 2007 | |
| 256MA | VNIIEF laboratories (Russia) current produced in explosive flux compression generator | |
| 109 | 3 GA | Total current in Sol's heliospheric current sheet |
| 1018 | 3 EA | Current of 2kpc segment of 50kpc-long radio jet of the Seyfert galaxy 3C 303[14] |
