Concept: Current, Amps, Voltage etc.
Voltage is related to current running through a wire in the same way water pressure is related to water flowing through a pipe.
Current (Amps) = How fast electrons are moving.
Current is measured in the amount of “electrical charge” (aka coulombs) traveling across a specific point each second. 5 Amps is equal to 5 Coulombs worth of electrons traveling across a point in a wire every second. This is analogous to the flow rate or “speed” of water through a pipe.
Voltage (Volts) = The energy of the electrons that are traveling, or how “powerful” the current is.
Volts tell us the energy difference between two points along a wire. This difference in energy is based on (1) how fast the electrons are traveling in that wire and (2) how hard they have to fight against the material that they’re traveling through. You can think of this like water pressure in a pipe.
Resistance (Ohms) = How resistant a material is to electron flowing through it
Power (Watts) = Amps x Volts = The total energy (in Joules) being used per second
Joules = This can be thought of as the amount of energy the electrons are carrying as they move through a material.
Example: You could have a copper wire and steel wire with the exact same current flowing through each. The electrons are moving at the same speed in both cases. However, if you measure the voltage between points on each wire, you’ll find that they’re different. That’s because the amount of energy that the electrons need to push between the two points depends on how tough or “resistant” the material is. The higher the voltage, the more “powerful” the current is.