Electric Charge

Electric Charge is a property of matter.  There are two types of charge, positive charge (+) and negative charge (-). 

Protons are positively charged and Electrons are negatively charged.  The amount of positive charge on a proton is equal to the amount of negative charge on an electron.  The unit of charge is a Coulomb.  (Charles A. Coulomb 1736-1806)

e = 1.60 x 10^-19 Coulombs

Amount of charge on 1 proton =  + e  =  + 1.60 x 10^-19 C

Amount of charge on 1 electron =  - e  =  - 1.60 x 10^-19 C

An atom which has as many electrons as protons is considered to be Electrically Neutral.  The net charge of an electrically neutral object is zero.

The amount of charge that an proton or electron possesses is the smallest amount of free charge that has been discovered.  Therefore, the net charge of an object must be an integer amount of electrons or protons.  (For those of you concerned about quarks...  While quarks can carry charges of 1/3 e or 2/3 e, they are are not free from the nucleus.)

Net Charge = Integer · e

q = n · e

Law of Conservation of Electrical Charge → The net charge of an isolated system remains constant.  (It actually is possible to destroy or create charge, but charge is always destroyed or created in pairs.)