Elementary charge
What Elementary charge means in Physics A-Level, as defined for AQA, OCR.
Definitions of Elementary charge
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Reference: AQA
A fundamental unit of charge, with magnitude e = 1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ C, equal to the magnitude of the charge on an electron or proton.
Charge comes in 'packets' of size e = 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C, and the smallest possible free charge is e (or −e for an electron).
Equals 1.6 × 10⁻¹⁹ C and is the smallest unit of electric charge that can exist freely.
The charge e of 1.60 × 10⁻¹⁹ C carried by one electron or proton, not the total charge.
Topics that use Elementary charge
- Principle of Millikan’s determination of the electronic charge, e (A-level only) (AQA A-Level)
- Charge (OCR A-Level)
- Mean drift velocity (OCR A-Level)
Related terms
- Calculations with integer multiples of e
- Combining gravitational, viscous and electric forces
- Conductors, semiconductors and insulators
- Consistency of sign conventions in circuit analysis
- Conventional current
- Derived units
- Discrete nature of charge
- Electric current
Using Elementary charge in the exam
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