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In physics, a charged particle is a particle with an electric charge. For example, some elementary particles, like the electron or quarks are charged. [1] Some composite particles like protons are charged particles. An ion, such as a molecule or atom with a surplus or deficit of electrons relative to protons are also charged particles.
Negative ion reaction equations. Negative air ions (NAI) are important air component, generally referring to the collections of negatively charged single gas molecules or ion clusters in the air. They play an essential role in maintaining the charge balance of the atmosphere. [1] [2] The main components of air are molecular nitrogen and oxygen.
Charge is quantized: it comes in integer multiples of individual small units called the elementary charge, e, about 1.602 × 10 −19 C, [1] which is the smallest charge that can exist freely. Particles called quarks have smaller charges, multiples of 1 / 3 e, but they are found only combined in particles that have a charge that is an ...
The charge numbers for ions (and also subatomic particles) are written in superscript, e.g., Na + is a sodium ion with charge number positive one (an electric charge of one elementary charge). All particles of ordinary matter have integer-value charge numbers, with the exception of quarks, which cannot exist in isolation under ordinary ...
An ion that has more electrons than protons, giving it a net negative charge, is named an anion, and a minus indication "Anion (−)" indicates the negative charge. With a cation it is just the opposite: it has fewer electrons than protons, giving it a net positive charge, hence the indication "Cation (+)".
Particles have corresponding antiparticles with the same mass but with opposite electric charges. For example, the antiparticle of the electron is the positron. The electron has a negative electric charge, the positron has a positive charge. These antiparticles can theoretically form a corresponding form of matter called antimatter.
A simple example of a polyatomic ion is the hydroxide ion, which consists of one oxygen atom and one hydrogen atom, jointly carrying a net charge of −1; its chemical formula is O H −. In contrast, an ammonium ion consists of one nitrogen atom and four hydrogen atoms, with a charge of +1; its chemical formula is N H + 4.
While the electron has a negative electric charge, the positron has a positive electric charge, and is produced naturally in certain types of radioactive decay. The opposite is also true: the antiparticle of the positron is the electron. Some particles, such as the photon, are their own antiparticle. Otherwise, for each pair of antiparticle ...