The unit of current is the ampere, symbolized as "A." It is named after the French physicist André-Marie Ampère, who made significant contributions to the understanding of electromagnetism. One ampere is defined as one coulomb of electric charge passing through a given point in a circuit per second. In other words, if one coulomb of charge flows through a point in a circuit in one second, the current at that point is one ampere. Current is a fundamental quantity in electricity and is used to measure the rate of flow of electric charge through a conductor.