The magnitude of the charge carried by an electron is equal to that carried by a proton. True False
The correct answer and explanation is:
Correct Answer: True
The magnitude of the charge carried by an electron is indeed equal to that carried by a proton. While the electron carries a negative charge and the proton carries a positive charge, their magnitudes are the same. The charge of each is approximately 1.602 × 10⁻¹⁹ coulombs. This equality is a fundamental property of atomic particles and is crucial for the stability of atoms.
Atoms are made up of protons, neutrons, and electrons. Protons are located in the nucleus and have a positive charge. Electrons orbit around the nucleus and have a negative charge. In a neutral atom, the number of protons equals the number of electrons, which results in the total charge of the atom being zero. This balance is possible because the magnitude of the proton’s charge exactly equals the magnitude of the electron’s charge. If their charges were not equal, atoms could not remain neutral, and the basic structure of matter would not exist as it does.
The equality in magnitude also plays a central role in electric forces. According to Coulomb’s Law, opposite charges attract each other with a force proportional to the product of their charges. Since electrons and protons have equal and opposite charges, the force between them is strong and helps bind electrons to atoms. This force is one of the key reasons that atoms can form molecules and participate in chemical reactions.
Additionally, this property supports the law of conservation of electric charge. During physical and chemical processes, the total electric charge remains constant, which is only possible if elementary charges are equal and conserved in interactions.
Therefore, the statement is true. The magnitude of the charge of an electron equals that of a proton, despite their opposite signs.