Electric Charge

Hello Students!

               

If there is one thing to know about science, it is charge! No, not like charging a cell phone, but more like the individual particles of a molecule!
                

Charge is first spotted with Thales of Miletus in 600 BC when he rubbed two fur objects together, creating a static charge. (Refer back to Static Electricity). Usually, charge is split up into two categories: Positive and Negative.
                

Positive charge is where there are more protons than electrons, while negatively charged particles have more electrons than protons. Usually, like charges repel one another while different charges attract. Think of it like this: If you have two slices of bread with peanut butter on it, it’s too much peanut butter and likewise if you have the same situation with jelly. But with one peanut butter slice and one jelly slice, it creates a perfect attraction.
                

Charge is measured in coulombs, which is named after our dear friend Charles Coulomb. One Coulomb is 6.24x10^18 electrons. That’s a lot! But if you think about it, electrons are so small and there’s so many of them in one spot that it actually makes sense.
               

One important thing to remember, though, is the Conservation of Charge, which (as mentioned in a previous post) states that charge can neither be created nor destroyed. This is important because charge is a very simple form of energy, and if you can destroy/create that, you can do that with anything! Benjamin Franklin was the first one (or so it should seem) to document this, stating:

“It is now discovered and demonstrated, both here and in Europe, that the Electrical Fire is a real Element, or Species of Matter, not created by the Friction, but collected only.

—Benjamin Franklin, Letter to Cadwallader Colden, 5 June 1747^[2]”

Now that you know the base knowledge of charge, it should hopefully help! 

~The Scientists