Question

So I am preparing for an exam with material from openstax books on physics. There in the static electricity chapter I saw this paragraph,

Because the fundamental positive and negative units of charge are carried on protons and electrons, we would expect that the total charge cannot change in any system that we define. In other words, although we might be able to move charge around, we cannot create or destroy it. This should be true provided that we do not create or destroy protons or electrons in our system. In the twentieth century, however, scientists learned how to create and destroy electrons and protons, but they found that charge is still conserved. Many experiments and solid theoretical arguments have elevated this idea to the status of a law. The law of conservation of charge says that electrical charge cannot be created or destroyed.

Since we destroyed charges, how then is it still conserved? Could someone please explain?

Answer 1

The law of conservation of charge states that electric charge cannot be created or destroyed. When charges are separated or moved around, no charge is actually created or destroyed, but rather existing charges are moved about. This means that in any closed system, the total amount of charge remains constant.

Step-by-step explanation:

The law of conservation of charge states that electric charge cannot be created or destroyed. The law of conservation of charge states that electric charge cannot be created or destroyed.

When charges are separated or moved around, no charge is actually created or destroyed, but rather existing charges are moved about. This means that in any closed system, the total amount of charge remains constant. Although scientists have found ways to create and destroy electrons and protons, charge is still conserved.

This is because when charges are separated or moved around, no charge is actually created or destroyed, but rather existing charges are moved about. This means that in any closed system, the total amount of charge remains constant.