# Fairly Simple explanation of Ohms, Watts, Volts, Amps, and their interaction.



## Alex (31/12/14)

Fairly) Simple explanation of Ohms, Watts, Volts, Amps, and their interaction. (self.electronic_cigarette)
by poemmys

Understanding how current works is vital for safety when it comes to vaping, even if you don't use rebuildables or mechanical mods, but most people are overwhelmed at all the jargon and seemingly complex math. Therefore, with the help of my friend (a non-vaper) who is an undergrad in Electrical Engineering, I will attempt to explain all these factors in a fairly simple way.

*Definitions*

_Amps_ (Amperes)- The measure of electrons flowing through a current in a given time, similar to the amount of water flowing through a hose in a pressure washer.

_Volts_- A measure of the electrical potential or power of a circuit, sort of like the power of a pump behind a pressure washer pushing the water through the hose.

_Watts_- A measure of the energy being output by a circuit, sort of like how hard water hits a surface when sprayed with a pressure washing hose.

_Ohms_- A measure of the resistance to the flow of electrons (remember, the flow of electrons is measured in amps) in a circuit, sort of like the thickness of a hose slows down how much water could be pushed through.

*Interactions*

The _Ohms_ in your coil impede the flow of your _amps_, and this is why you need a higher amount of _volts_ in a higher _Ohm_ coil to reach the same amount of _watts_. It's like when a door hinge is rusty, you have to push harder (_volts_) because the rust adds resistance (_Ohms_) to your strength (_volts_) applied to the door, but in the end the door still opens creating the same result (_watts_).

*Unregulated Mods*

In a mechanical mod the _voltage_ remains constant, therefore to reach a higher _wattage_ (more heat output) a lower _Ohm_ coil must be built as to allow for as little resistance as possible to your flow of electrons. However, when you output a higher _wattage_ with low _voltage_, such as with a normal 18650 battery, the amount of _amps_ flowing through your circuit is high, and this is where battery safety and _amp_ limits come into play.

*Regulated Mods*

In a regulated mod, you possess the ability to change the amount of _voltage_ applied to your circuit, which makes building a lower _Ohm_ coil less necessary because you can push more _volts_ into your circuit to overcome the increase in resistance to the flow of _amps_. The reason this is safer is because when you output a higher _wattage_ with a higher _voltage_, your _amps_ will be lower.

*Summary*

For example, putting out 70 _watts_ using 3.6 _volts_ will require 19.4 _amps_, while putting out 70 _watts_ using 5 _volts_ only requires 11.7 _amps_. This is why you'll hear people tell you to build to higher _Ohms_ on a regulated mod.

I hope this helped some of you better grasp the concept of how this all works, and remember, if you are going to build your own coils, PLEASE measure the _Ohms_ of your coils and calculate the _wattage_, _voltage_, and _amps_ that will be running in your device using any number of online resources/apps just for this purpose. Be SAFE and vape on!

Reactions: Like 8 | Informative 1


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## Arthster (31/12/14)

Very well written explanation.

Reactions: Agree 2


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