We explain what an electric charge is, how it is classified and what its properties are. Also, what is Coulomb's Law.
What is an electric charge?
In physics, electric charge is called a property of matter that is present in subatomic particles and is evidenced by forces of attraction or repulsion between them, through electromagnetic fields.
Matter made up of atoms is electrically neutral, that is, it is not charged unless some external factor charges it. Atoms have the same number of particles with a negative electrical charge (electrons) as particles with a positive electrical charge (protons).
However, matter can become electrically charged, that is, it can gain or lose charge, and thus become negatively or positively charged. Charged matter generates an electric field, a field of electric forces. The electromagnetic force is one of the four fundamental interactions of nature.
Electric charges cannot be created or destroyed. The amount of electrical charge in the universe is constant, it does not change over time.
Materials respond differently to electromagnetic induction. Some are conductors of electricity and others are insulators, that is, they do not conduct electricity.
According to the International System of Measurements (SI), electric charges are measured in a unit called Coulombs or Coulombs (C). Its name was established in honor of the French physicist Charles-Augustin de Coulomb (1736-1806), one of the greatest scholars of this type of physical phenomena.
A Coulomb unit is defined as the amount of charge that an electric current of one ampere carries through an electrical conductor in one second. One ampere corresponds to 6.242 x 1018 free electrons.
See also: Electrical energy
Types of electrical charge
Electric charges interact with each other according to their type: can be positive or negative as Benjamin Franklin called them. These denominations are arbitrary, that is, there is nothing that distinguishes the positive from the negative, but they are thought of in the same way as a magnetic dipole, like a battery, which has a positive (or north) pole and a negative (or south).
The positive is denoted with the + sign and the negative with the – sign, conventionally. Electric charges of equal signs repel each other. Electric charges of opposite signs attract.
Properties of electric charge
Electric charge is an intrinsic property of matter, and resides in subatomic particles: Electrons have a negative charge and protons have a positive charge (neutrons have a neutral charge, as their name suggests).
When an object becomes electrically charged, it is due to a shift in its electrons either loss (gaining positive charge) or incorporation (gaining negative charge). Therefore, a material with an excess of electrons in its outer atoms will have a negative charge, while one with a deficit of electrons will have a positive charge.
In a closed system, the electric charge remains constant just as it happens in any chemical reaction.
Coulomb's law
The Coulomb's law either Fundamental Principle of Electrostatics governs the magnitude of the attractive or repulsive forces between two electric charges determined, regardless of the sign of their charge (obviously, if they are of the same sign it will be a force of repulsion, and if they are of the opposite sign it will be a force of attraction).
According to this law, said force is proportional to the product of the value of the charges, and inversely proportional to the square of the distance that separates them. This is expressed mathematically in the following way:
F = K. ((Q1 x Q2)/r2 )
Where:
- F It is the electric force.
- Q They are the burdens.
- r It is the distance that separates them.
- K is a proportionality constant defined as 9.109 Nm2/C2.
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References
- “Electric charge” in Wikipedia.
- “The electrical charge. Coulomb's Law” in Hiru.eus.
- “Electric load” (video) in Educatina.
- “The true meaning of electric charge” (video) at the IFT Institute of Theoretical Physics.
- “What is electric charge?” in Physics Lab.
- “What is Electric Charge?” on Live Science.
- “Electric charge” in The Encyclopaedia Britannica.
