Question

A housefly walking across a surface may develop a significant electric charge through a process similar to frictional charging. Suppose a fly picks up a charge of +62 pC.

How many electrons does it lose to the surface it is walking across?

Answer 1

Number of electrons,
`n=3.87* 10^8\ electrons`

Step-by-step explanation:

Given that,

Charge on the fly,
`q=62\ pC=62* 10^(-12)\ C`

Let n is the number of electrons lose to the surface it is walking across. It is case of quantization of electric charge. It is given by :

`q=ne`

`n=(q)/(e)`

`n=(62* 10^(-12))/(1.6* 10^(-19))`

n = 387500000 electrons

or

`n=3.87* 10^8\ electrons`

So, there are
`3.87* 10^8` electrons. Hence, this is the required solution.