Electric Charge: Definition, Unit, Properties And Examples

Electric Charge Definition, Unit, Properties And Examples: Electric Charge is the fundamental property of matter that governs how particles interact with magnetic fields and electric fields. 

What Is An Electric Charge? 

Electric charge is an intrinsic property of those elementary particles that determines their electromagnetic induction. 

Two Types Of Electric Charge

• Electric charge comes in two types: positive and negative. 
• Like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract each other. 
• The strength of the force between two charges depends on the magnitude of the charges and the distance between them. 
• When the number of positive and negative charges are the same, then the object becomes neutral. 

Important Things To Know About An Electric Charge

• A proton is positively charged while an electron is negatively charged. 
• The neutrons have no charge. 

Unit Of Electric Charge 

The unit of electric charge is Coulomb. The value of one coulomb is the amount of charge that is transferred in one second. Mathematically, the equation formed is:- 

Q = I.t.

Here, Q is the symbol for the electric charge.  

A charge is denoted by ‘q’ and the SI unit of the charge is Coulomb. Mathematically, it can be represented as:- 

q=ne

Q is the charge, n is the number of electrons and the e is the charge on 1 electron that is 1.6 × 10-19C. 

The charge of a proton is ‘+’ while that of an electron is ‘-’. 

Properties Of Electric Charge

• Additivity of Electric Charge
• Conservation of Electric Charge
• Quantization of Electric Charge

Determining The Charge On A Body 

If you want to determine the nature of a charge on a body, then repulsion is the sure test to do. 

How To Measure The Electric Charge?

Electric Charge is measured in the unit of Coulomb.  

1 Coulomb = 1 ampere of current through a unit-cross-sectional area for one second. 

The electric charge formula is given by: 

Q = I.t

q= electric charge

I= electric current 

t= time 

Coulomb’s Law

This law provides a way to calculate the strength of the force between two points. 

According to Coulomb’s Law, 

The magnitude of the electrostatic force of attraction or repulsion is directly proportional to the product of magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between the charges. 

The equation can be represented as: 

Fe=kq₁q₂/r²

Here, Fe is the electric charge, q1 and q2 are electric charges and r is the distance between two charges. 

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