The electrostatic system of units (CGS-ESU) is a system of units used to measure quantities of

electric charge Electric charge is the physical property of matter that causes charged matter to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be ''positive'' or ''negative'' (commonly carried by protons and electrons respe ...

electric current An electric current is a stream of charged particles, such as electrons or ions, moving through an electrical conductor or space. It is measured as the net rate of flow of electric charge through a surface or into a control volume. The moving pa ...

, and

voltage Voltage, also known as electric pressure, electric tension, or (electric) potential difference, is the difference in electric potential between two points. In a static electric field, it corresponds to the work needed per unit of charge to m ...

within the centimetre–gram–second (or "CGS") system of metric units. In electrostatic units, electrical charge is defined by the force that it exerts on other charges. Although CGS units have mostly been replaced by the ''

International System of Units The International System of Units, known by the international abbreviation SI in all languages and sometimes pleonastically as the SI system, is the modern form of the metric system and the world's most widely used system of measurement. E ...

'', electrostatic units are still in occasional use in some applications, most notably in certain types of physics such as in

particle physics Particle physics or high energy physics is the study of fundamental particles and forces that constitute matter and radiation. The fundamental particles in the universe are classified in the Standard Model as fermions (matter particles) an ...

and

astrophysics Astrophysics is a science that employs the methods and principles of physics and chemistry in the study of astronomical objects and phenomena. As one of the founders of the discipline said, Astrophysics "seeks to ascertain the nature of the h ...

. The main electrostatic units are: *The

statcoulomb The franklin (Fr) or statcoulomb (statC) electrostatic unit of charge (esu) is the physical unit for electrical charge used in the cgs-esu and Gaussian units. It is a derived unit given by : 1 statC = 1 dyn1/2⋅cm = 1 cm3/2⋅g1/2⋅s−1. That ...

, called the

franklin Franklin may refer to: People * Franklin (given name) * Franklin (surname) * Franklin (class), a member of a historical English social class Places Australia * Franklin, Tasmania, a township * Division of Franklin, federal electoral d ...

or the "esu" for

*The

statvolt The statvolt is a unit of voltage and electrical potential used in the CGS-ESU and gaussian systems of units. In terms of its relation to the SI units, one statvolt corresponds to exactly , i.e. to 299.792458 volts. The statvolt is also ...

for

*The

statampere The statampere (statA) is the derived electromagnetic unit of electric current in the CGS-ESU (electrostatic cgs) and Gaussian systems of units. One statampere corresponds to / ampere ≈ in the SI system of units. The name ''statampere'' is ...

for

. The CGS-ESU units for magnetic quantities are seldom used, and don't have special names. Sources tend to just use 'esu' or the derived unit expressed in terms of the CGS base units. For example, the unit for magnetic induction is g/cm, corresponding to

gauss Johann Carl Friedrich Gauss (; german: Gauß ; la, Carolus Fridericus Gauss; 30 April 177723 February 1855) was a German mathematician and physicist who made significant contributions to many fields in mathematics and science. Sometimes refer ...

, and corresponding to ×, where = /(cm/s) = is the numeric part of

speed of light The speed of light in vacuum, commonly denoted , is a universal physical constant that is important in many areas of physics. The speed of light is exactly equal to ). According to the special theory of relativity, is the upper limit ...

expressed in CGS units.

References

External links

Electrical units
{{CGS units Centimetre–gram–second system of units Electricity

See also

References

External links