A charge of 100 elementary charges is equivalent to
The Correct Answer and Explanation is:
A charge of 100 elementary charges is equivalent to:
1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C × 100 = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁷ C
Explanation:
Electric charge is a fundamental property of matter, and it is commonly expressed in terms of elementary charge, which refers to the charge carried by a single proton or the negative of that carried by a single electron. The magnitude of the elementary charge is a known physical constant:
Elementary charge (e) = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ Coulombs (C)
If we have 100 elementary charges, we can calculate the total charge in Coulombs by multiplying the number of charges by the value of the elementary charge:
Total charge (Q) = number of elementary charges × elementary charge
In this case:
Q = 100 × 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁷ C
This means that a group of 100 positive elementary charges (such as 100 protons) would collectively have a charge of 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁷ C. Similarly, 100 electrons would have the same magnitude of charge but with a negative sign, that is, −1.6 × 10⁻¹⁷ C, because electrons carry negative elementary charge.
Understanding elementary charge is fundamental in physics and chemistry because it is the smallest unit of electric charge that is considered indivisible in isolated conditions. Larger amounts of charge are built from multiples of this elementary unit. In practical situations, charges on objects or particles are often expressed in terms of Coulombs because Coulomb is the standard SI unit for electric charge.
For comparison, the charge transferred by common electrical processes, like static electricity shocks, often involves many billions of elementary charges, making the total charge measurable in microcoulombs or millicoulombs. However, when dealing with atomic or subatomic particles, expressing charge in terms of elementary charge is more practical.
