Electric Current And Charge Flow

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During a laboratory experiment a conductor passes a charge of 60 coulombs through its cross-section in exactly 2 minutes, so what is the current?

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Electric current is defined as the rate of flow of charge through a cross-section, expressed as $I = \frac{Q}{t}$, a relation given in NCERT Class 12, Chapter 3 (Current Electricity). Here the charge is $Q = 60$ C and the time must first be converted to SI units: $t = 2 	ext{ minutes} = 120$ s. Substituting gives $I = \frac{60}{120} = 0.5$ A. The key step many learners miss is the conversion of minutes to seconds; using 2 s instead of 120 s produces the wrong answer of 30 A, which is why that option is incorrect. The option 120 A simply reports the time in seconds and ignores the division entirely. The option 2 A comes from dividing 120 by 60, inverting the correct ratio. Because one ampere equals one coulomb per second, and here a modest charge spreads over two minutes, a small current below one ampere is entirely expected. A unit check confirms coulombs divided by seconds yields amperes, and the magnitude of 0.5 A is reasonable for a bench-top circuit.

Electric Current And Charge Flow

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