Basic properties of electric charge :
1. Quantisation of electric charge :
The fundamental unit of electric charge (e) is the charge carried by the electron and its unit is coulomb. e has the magnitude 1.6 × 10^−19 C.
In nature, the electric charge of any system is always an integral multiple of the least amount of charge. It means that the quantity can take only one of the discrete set of values. The charge, q = ne where n is an integer.
2. Conservation of electric charge :
Electric charges can neither be created nor destroyed. According to the law of conservation of electric charge, the total charge in an isolated system always remains constant. But the charges can be transferred from one part of the system to another, such that the total charge always remains conserved.
For Example : NaCl----> (Na ^+) + (Cl^-)
3. Additive nature of charge :
The total electric charge of a system is equal to the algebraic sum of electric charges located in the system.
For example, if two charged bodies of charges +2q, −5q are brought in contact, the total charge of the system is –3q.
