elctric charge

Thread Starter

ronn

Joined Nov 1, 2007
16
hi, my name is ronn and i 'd like to ask what is really this electric charge means. I'd read some information about it and says it is something that an electron or proton carry. Is this charge something made of matter having a substance or just a description of an effect? i'm a little bit confused.
thanks a lot
 

Dave

Joined Nov 17, 2003
6,969
Is this charge something made of matter having a substance or just a description of an effect?
Electric charge is a fundamental property of subatomic particles, notably protons (positive charge) and electrons (negative charge). The electromagnetic field is the effect of electric charge which influences the behaviour of electrically charged objects (down to other subatomic particles) within its vicinity.

Dave
 

Thread Starter

ronn

Joined Nov 1, 2007
16
thanks for your reply
by analogy , do you mean charge is like what a mass has something to do with gravity?
thanks again
 

cheddy

Joined Oct 19, 2007
87
thanks for your reply
by analogy , do you mean charge is like what a mass has something to do with gravity?
thanks again
Not so much. Gravity is a universal attractive force. Charge can be either attractive or repulsive depending on polarity.
 

thingmaker3

Joined May 16, 2005
5,083
Charge is related to which way the particle is spinning as it moves along. If an electron sized particle spins one way as it zinga along, it has a negative charge and we call it an electron. If it spins the "wrong way" while traveling, it has a positive charge and we call it a "positron."

The two different spins make two different electrical fields that attract each other. Similar spins make similar electrical fields that push against each other. They work sort of like little bitty weather systems. Sort of.
 

cheddy

Joined Oct 19, 2007
87
Charge is related to which way the particle is spinning as it moves along. If an electron sized particle spins one way as it zinga along, it has a negative charge and we call it an electron. If it spins the "wrong way" while traveling, it has a positive charge and we call it a "positron."

The two different spins make two different electrical fields that attract each other. Similar spins make similar electrical fields that push against each other. They work sort of like little bitty weather systems. Sort of.
Huh? What about ions? Aren't they a little more ubiquitous and easier to use to explain attractive and repulsive forces than matter-antimatter?
 

thingmaker3

Joined May 16, 2005
5,083
No. Ions simply have extra electrons or fewer electrons. Charge itself comes from spin.

Don't blame me for how the universe works, I didn't invent the thing!:D
 

Thread Starter

ronn

Joined Nov 1, 2007
16
from my basic question that i ask
and deducing from the information that we talked about,
it looks like charge is not substantial (not material) it is more of
description of an effect? Am i right?
thanks a lot for those who answered and give their thoughts of it.
 
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