Hi,

Can any body explain/prove the following statement?

According to experimental observations, the only charges that occur in nature are integral multiples of the electronic charge e = −1.602 × 10 -19C.

Thanks in advance

 

That might be off by a factor of 10.

First check out this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Coulomb

Then check out this calculation:
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&safe=off&q=1/(6.24151*10e18)

 

By the way, I can't prove it.

I think that is referring to the charge of a single electron, but who is really to say that there are no other charges than an electron or a proton? I bet other particles have charge, and who is to say that they are the same as an electron?

It all gets wacky at the particle level.

By the way, can anyone explain to me how a magnetic field is generated by an electron moving in a straight wire?

 

According to experimental observations, the only charges that occur in nature are integral multiples of the electronic charge e = −1.602 × 10 -19C.

The "integral multiples" part simply means that the charge on an electron is a fundamental property. As that quantity of charge can't be divided into smaller amounts, then charge can only accumulate in fixed amounts equal to the charge on the number of electrons present.

 

I can't prove it either, but to help explain it, see Millikan's oil drop experiment -

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oil_drop_experiment

 

I don't know (does anyone really) if the list is comprehensive, but Wikipedia gives a list of fundamental particles and their charges. Some are not integral multiples of the electron charge.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_particles

 

By the way, can anyone explain to me how a magnetic field is generated by an electron moving in a straight wire?

Sage, you really should ask your questions in our own thread.

The answer lies in one of Maxwells equations, which contains Amperes Law.