Question

Question 1.4: (a) Explain the meaning of the statement ‘electric charge of a body is quantised’. (b) Why can one ignore quantisation of electric charge when dealing with macroscopic i.e., large scale charges?

Class 12 - Physics - Electric Charges And Fields Electric Charges And Fields Page-46

Answer 1

(a) The net charge possessed by a body is an integral multiple of charge of an electrons . I mean, net charge on body , Q = n × charge on electron. ,Where n = 1, 2, 3, ..... Is the number of electrons gained or lost by the body and charge on electron is 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C .This is known as law of quantization of charge.

(b) at macroscopic level , charges are enormously large as compared to charge of an electron . Even a charge of 1nC contains nearly 10¹³ electronic charges. So, at this scale can have a continuous value rather than discrete integral multiple of charge on electron . And hence, quantization of electric charge can be ignored .

Answer 2

Hey mate!

Here's your answer!!

a) Electric charge of a body is quantized. This means that only integral (1, 2, …., n) number of electrons can be transferred from one body to the other. Charges are not transferred in fraction. Hence, a body possesses total charge only in integral multiples of electric charge.

(b) In macroscopic or large scale charges, the charges used are huge as compared to the magnitude of electric charge. Hence, quantization of electric charge is of no use on macroscopic scale. Therefore, it is ignored and it is considered that electric charge is continuous.

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