Slide 4 of 11
Notes:
We now know that electrical charge is a fundamental property of the most elementary constituents of matter, but that it cannot be infinitely subdivided. The charge on the electron is the smallest possible electric charge, but it’s a very, very small number. Typically, there are 1E24 electrons in any gram of matter, each carrying -1.6E-19 Coulombs of charge. Luckily, there are also 1E24 protons in the same gram of matter carrying the same amount of positive charge, so the net electric charge is zero.
When we rub a glass rod with silk, we transfer perhaps 1e13 electrons, destroying the equality and leaving a charge of a microCoulomb or so on each object.
