What gives a proton a positive charge, an electron a negative charge, and neutral no charge?
I'm not aware that anyone has fully explained what the "charge" is. It is described as a fundamental property and defined as the tendency to create or respond to electric fields . . . My theory is probably terribly dated, but . . . There are two classes of fundamental particles (particles not made up of other particles). These are quarks and leptons. There are six quarks, six anti-quarks, six leptons, and six anti-leptons. Leptons, while truly fundamental, can exist independently. The most familiar lepton is the electron, which has a charge of -1. A positron, or anti-electron, is identical but has a charge of +1. Quarks do not occur independently. They respond to the strong force and come together to form hadrons. There are (at least) two classes of hadrons. Baryons are composed of three quarks, whereas mesons are composed of a quark and an antiquark. There are six quarks: up, down, strange, charm, top, and bottom. The charge on a quark is either 2/3 or -1/3. I do not know why. A proton is a baryon made of two up quarks and a down quark. It has a +1 charge because the up quark has a charge of 2/3 whereas the down quark has a charge of -1/3. Neutrons, on the other hand, are made up of two down quarks and an up quark. The charge is zero: 2/3 + 2(-1/3) = 0. The underlying simplicity is elusive.
What is electric charge?
Electric charge is that which causes electrons and ions to attract each other, and the repel particles of the same kind. The electric charge of electron is called "negative" (-) and that of ions "positive" (+). Materials such as glass, fur and cloth acquire and electric charge by rubbing them egains each other, a process which tears electrons off one substance and attaches it to the other. Electric charges (+) and (-) may also be separated by a chemical process, as in an electric battery.
Two protons are a distance 2x10^-9 m apart. What is the electric potential energy of the system?
Coulomb's law for the force in between two charges is F = k*q1*q2 / (r^2) where k is the electrostatic constant 1/(4*pi*(the permittivity of free space)), q1 and q2 are the charges of the two protons which is the same number for both, and r is the distance between them. The constant k = (8.99 x 10^(9)) Newtons*(meters^2) / (Coulomb^2). Now, the potential energy of the system is just the energy that would be required to bring the charges together through this distance between them. So, we multiply out the force between the charges times the distance between them to figure out the value of this potential energy. Doing this yields Potential Energy = Force times distance = [k*q1*q2 / (r^2)] * r = k*q1*q2 / r PE = [8.99 x 10^(9) (N m^2 / C^2)] * (1.60 x 10^(-19) C) * (1.60 x 10^(-19) C) / (2 x 10^(-9) m) Multiplying out the numerator yields PE = [23.0144 x 10^(-20) N m] We know one Newton*meter equals one Joule. So, the answer rounded off to three significant digits is PE = 23.0 x 10^(-20) Joule The potential energy of the system with the electron and the proton has the same value since protons and electrons have the exact same magnitude of charge and since they are the same distance apart as with the two protons. The only difference is that the electric field and the force vectors are pointing in the exact opposite directions now as they were before with the two protons simply because a proton and electron attract each other whereas two protons repel each other. The first statement is not true. It is true for two particles of the same charge as they will repel each other and thus be further away and exerting smaller forces, therefore less energy in the system, on each other. However for oppositely charged particles, they will attract each other and therefore arrive closer together. Potential energy is inversely proportional to the distance between the charges; so, closer together means less distance and more energy. The second statement is not true as two protons would actually move farther apart (not closer together) and thus decrease the energy of the system. The third statement is the only one that is true because as we just decided with the other two statements oppositely charged particles would move to increase potential energy, and particles with the same sign of charge would move to decrease potential energy.
(particle beam )electric field?
A particle beam is made up of many protons each with a kinetic energy of 3.25×10-15J. A proton has a mass of 1.673×10-27kg and a charge of +1.602×10-19C. What is the magnitude of a uniform electric field that will stop these protons in a distance of 2 m?
Magnitude and direction of Electric Field?
A nucleus of the boron- 11 isotope consists of 5 protons and 6 neutrons. A particular ionized atom pf boron- 11 whose mass is 1.80x10^-26, lacks 2 electrons from its neutral state. Find the magnitude and direction of the electric field that will levitate this ion to balance its weight. g= 9.81 m/s^2 I know that the direction is upward but I don't understand how to apply the electric field formula to this question. Please help!
Why is the proton so much more massive than the electron, yet holds the same charge?
The electron is, as far as we know, an elementary particle - meaning there's nothing inside it, and it cannot be broken into two or more other things.A proton is not an elementary particle, it is a type of hadron, an atomic unit created when elementary particles - called quarks - are bonded. The proton is two 'up-quarks' and one 'down-quark'. Quarks have fractional charges, and the two up-quarks give the proton its positive charge.It is tempting to imagine the proton as an object containing three other objects - like a bag of marbles. But the proton is more like a car than a bag - it only exists while its components are combined in a particular way.The mass of a proton is far greater than the combined masses of each quark at rest, which would only make it 18 times more massive than the electron. This accounts for less than 1% of the proton's real mass. The proton's mass is relativistic mass - mass from the kinetic energy of the quarks and bonding gluons in a particle field. This explains why the mass of a proton seems excessive compared to an electron. Quarks are never found alone - which is why we normally discuss atoms in terms of protons, neutrons and electrons - these are, for most intents and purposes, the constituent parts.Consider this answer a layman's entry point into this area - I strongly recommend that those with a taste for more detail read Frank Heile's answer to Quantum Mechanics: Why is the proton so much more massive than the electron? It requires a little more work by the reader, but is well worth the effort.