Question

1. State whether the following charges can exist in nature.

a. -2.4*10-18 C

b. 6.2*10-18 C

Answer 1

Charge is "quantized". This means that charge comes in little pellets of a fixed amount. We can only get charge in whole pellets ... we can never cut up a pellet and get only a part of it.

The amount of charge in one pellet is 1.602 x 10⁻¹⁹ C.

That's the amount of negative charge on one electron, and it's also the amount of positive charge on one proton. Every electric charge in Creation must be a multiple of this amount.

a. -2.4*10-18 C

Yes. This charge can exist in Nature. It's the charge on 15 electrons.

b. 6.2*10-18 C

No. This charge can't exist in Nature.

38 protons carry 6.09 x 10⁻¹⁸ C (too small), but 39 protons carry 6.25 x 10⁻¹⁸ C (too big).

Answer 2

a. Yes, the charge -2.4*10-18 C can exist in nature as it is a small quantity of electric charge which can be found in subatomic particles such as electrons and protons.

b. Yes, the charge 6.2*10-18 C can also exist in nature as it represents a small amount of electric charge that could be present on any object due to friction, induction or conduction etc.