What do the terms Ampere and Volt on my power adapter mean?

Ampere and Volt are two fundamental units used to describe the electrical properties of your power supply. They are named after the scientists André-Marie Ampère and Alessandro Volta.

Ampere, often simply called Amp, is the unit that measures electrical current flow. In fact, it is the amount of electrical charge that flows through the circuit every second. For example, if your power supply is labeled 3A, it means that it can draw up to 3 amperes of current.

Volt, abbreviated as V, is the unit of electrical voltage. It measures how much pressure the power supply uses to move the current through the circuit. A higher voltage means that more energy is available per unit of charge. If your power supply is labeled 12V, it delivers a voltage of 12 volts.

• In summary, Ampere describes the amount of current that the power supply can provide, and Volt describes the pressure with which this current is delivered.