electric charge

nounPhysics.

one of the basic properties of the elementary particles of matter giving rise to all electric and magnetic forces and interactions. The two kinds of charge are given negative and positive algebraic signs: measured in coulombs.

Also called charge, electricity.

Words Nearby electric charge

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use electric charge in a sentence

This word refers to a material that produces an electric charge when it’s bent or squeezed.
Scientists Say: Piezoelectric | Bethany Brookshire | February 1, 2021 | Science News For Students
Pressing, squashing or twisting such materials produces an electric charge.
Bye-bye batteries? Power a phone with fabric or a beacon with sound | Kathryn Hulick | January 6, 2021 | Science News For Students
Neutrinos are nearly massless subatomic particles with no electric charge.
Readers ask about life on Venus and high-energy cosmic rays | Science News Staff | November 29, 2020 | Science News
If dark matter is lighter still, or blind to electric charge, it might fail to unleash an electron.
The Search for Dark Matter Is Dramatically Expanding | Charlie Wood | November 23, 2020 | Quanta Magazine
For instance, they can carry different amounts of electric charge.
What Is a Particle? | Natalie Wolchover | November 12, 2020 | Quanta Magazine

These ions are chemical radicles carrying a definite electric charge.
The New Gresham Encyclopedia | Various
Let us now use it in studying the distribution of an electric charge upon a conductor.
Physics | Willis Eugene Tower
In this case the electric charge exists at the point where the stem is attached, and there leakage by creeping takes place.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 | Various
Faraday expressed this fact by saying that no absolute electric charge could be given to matter.
Encyclopaedia Britannica, 11th Edition, Volume 9, Slice 3 | Various
If a vessel of water be electrified, and the water then converted into steam, the electric charge will be rapidly dissipated.
Scientific American Supplement, No. 455, September 20, 1884 | Various

British Dictionary definitions for electric charge

electric charge

noun

another name for charge (def. 25)

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Scientific definitions for electric charge

electric charge

A form of charge, designated positive, negative, or zero, found on the elementary particles that make up all known matter. Particles with electric charge interact with each other through the electromagnetic force, creating electric fields, and when they are in motion, magnetic fields. The electric fields tend to result in a repulsive force between particles with charges of the same sign, and an attractive force between charges of opposite sign. The electron is defined to have an electric charge of -1; the protons in an atomic nucleus have charge of +1, and the neutrons have charge of 0.

a closer look

Electric charge is a basic property of elementary particles of matter. The protons in an atom, for example, have a positive charge, the electrons have a negative charge, and the neutrons have zero charge. In an ordinary atom, the number of protons equals the number of electrons, so the atom normally has no net electric charge. An atom becomes negatively charged if it gains extra electrons, and it becomes positively charged if it loses electrons; atoms with net charge are called ions. Every charged particle is surrounded by an electric field, the area in which the charge exerts a force. Particles with nonzero electric charge interact with each other by exchanging photons, the carriers of the electromagnetic force. The strength and direction of the force charged particles exert on each other depends on the product of their charges: they attract each other if the product of their charges is negative and repel each other if the product is positive. Thus two electrons, each with charge -1, will repel each other, since -1 X -1 = +1, a positive number. Static electricity consists of charged particles at rest, while electric current consists of moving charged particles, especially electrons or ions.

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