Calculating Current Density in Solar Wind: nLAe Method Explained

[flash525]

Near earth, the density of protons in the solar wind is 10.0cm^-3, and their speed is 691 km/s.
To find the current density I need to multiply (nLA)e

do i need to convert 10.0 protons cm^-3 to 10000000m^-3 because i tried that and it didnt work?
thanks.

 

[uart]

This is a simple case that you need to use consistent units to get a sensible answer.

If you really want to use the units km/s for speed then you should use (km)^-3 for your density and expect an anwser in units Amps/(km)^2. Alternatively you could convert the speed to cm/s (leaving density in (cm)^-3) and that would get you an answer in units Amps/(cm)^2.

 

[flash525]

thanks,
i actually figured it out