Charges

Charges

Charge or electric charge is the basic property of matter that causes objects to attract or repel each other. It is carried by the subatomic particles like protons and electrons. Charges can neither be created nor be destroyed. There are two types of charges: positive charge and negative charge. Protons carry positive charge and the electrons carry negative charge. There is a force of attraction or repulsion between the charges. Unlike charges attract each other and like charges repel each other.

Electric charge is measured in coulomb (C) . Small amount of charge that can exist freely is called elementary charge (e). Its value is 1. 602 × 10^-19 C. This is the amount of charge possessed by each proton and electron. But, protons have positive elementary charge (+e) and electrons have negative elementary charge (-e). Since protons and electrons are equal in number, an atom is electrically neutral.