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Electric charge (symbol q, sometimes Q) is a physical property of matter that causes it to experience a force when placed in an electromagnetic field. Electric charge can be positive or negative . Like charges repel each other and unlike charges attract each other.
Charge number (denoted z) is a quantized and dimensionless quantity derived from electric charge, with the quantum of electric charge being the elementary charge (e, constant). The charge number equals the electric charge ( q , in coulombs ) divided by the elementary charge: z = q / e .
Charge quantization is the principle that the charge of any object is an integer multiple of the elementary charge. Thus, an object's charge can be exactly 0 e, or exactly 1 e, −1 e, 2 e, etc., but not 1 / 2 e, or −3.8 e, etc. (There may be exceptions to this statement, depending on how "object" is defined; see below.)
When charged particles move in electric and magnetic fields the following two laws apply: Lorentz force law: = (+),; Newton's second law of motion: = =; where F is the force applied to the ion, m is the mass of the particle, a is the acceleration, Q is the electric charge, E is the electric field, and v × B is the cross product of the ion's velocity and the magnetic flux density.
Lorentz force on a charged particle (of charge q) in motion (velocity v), used as the definition of the E field and B field. Here subscripts e and m are used to differ between electric and magnetic charges. The definitions for monopoles are of theoretical interest, although real magnetic dipoles can be described using pole strengths.
The electric potential at any location, r, in a system of point charges is equal to the sum of the individual electric potentials due to every point charge in the system. This fact simplifies calculations significantly, because addition of potential (scalar) fields is much easier than addition of the electric (vector) fields.
Quarks have fractional electric charge values – either (− 1 / 3 ) or (+ 2 / 3 ) times the elementary charge (e), depending on flavor. Up, charm, and top quarks (collectively referred to as up-type quarks) have a charge of + 2 / 3 e; down, strange, and bottom quarks (down-type quarks) have a charge of − 1 / 3 e.
A point charge q in the electric field of another charge Q. The electrostatic potential energy, U E, of one point charge q at position r in the presence of a point charge Q, taking an infinite separation between the charges as the reference position, is: