The ampere is named after André Ampère, a scientist who lived from the late 1700s to the early 1800s. Ampère is particularly known for his own work dealing with electromagnetism. The ampere (A) is equal to 1 coulomb per second. The definition of an ampere includes a quantity attribute, the coulomb, and a time attribute, the second. One ampere of current flows through a wire when 1 coulomb flows past a point in one second. The ampere is a measurement of the quantity of electricity that is flowing through a circuit. The letter I, which stands for intensity of current, and the letter A, which stands for ampere, are similarly used to represent current flow in algebraic formulas.