Section 14.

Where charges come from?

• Charge in atom

• Conservation of charge

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 6)

Charge in atom
All substances are made up of atoms
protons – positive charge
nucleus
atom neutrons - neutral

electrons – negative charge

-
- -
+++
+
-

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 6)

Class Practice 1:
Fill in the blanks with correct terms: electrons, neutrons,
nucleus, proton

Ans
wer
nucleus

proton
neutron

electron

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 6)

Charge in atom

Unit of charge : coulomb

(C)
-
- 1 proton: 1.6 × 10–19 C
-
++ +
+
1 neutron: 0 C
-

1 electron: –1.6 × 10–19 C

charge is negative
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 6)

Charge in atom

-
- -
++++
-
Normally in atoms,
no. of protons = no. of electrons
amount of +ve charges = amount of -ve charges

no net charge
⇒ electrically neutral
Thinking 2
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 7)

Losing an electron

charges
proton 4 × (1.6 × 10–19 C)
electron 3 × (–1.6 × 10–19 C)
net charge +1.6 × 10–19 C

+ve charge > -ve charge

-

- positively charged
electron lost

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 7)

Gaining an electron

charges
proton 4 × (1.6 × 10–19 C)
electron 5 × (–1.6 × 10–19 C)
net charge –1.6 × 10–19 C

+ve charge < -ve charge

-

electron gained -
negatively charged

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 7)

Charge in atom

- charged
neutral object
object charged

- charged
neutral object
object discharged

-
-
charging process ++ +
-
→ transfer of electrons +
-

Thinking 3
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 7)

Conservation of charge

total electric charges in isolated system

→ constant
transfer
- of electron -
- - -
++ + ++ +
+ +
- - - -

Go to

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 To section 14.3

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 6)

Thinking 2

State one similarity and one difference of

the charges of an electron and a proton.
Ans
Equal in magnitude but opposite in sign. wer

Return to

Text
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 7)

Thinking 3

Inside an atom, negative electrons are

circulating around the positive nucleus.
What are the forces between them?
Ans
wer
Attractive electrostatic forces exist between
them.

Return to

Text
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 8)

Activity 2
Analogue of charges in atom

Let’s start:

1. Place a green plastic transparent sheet

above a red one. Cut the sheets in the
same shape.
What is the colour of the combined
sheets?
Ans
Black wer

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 8)

Activity 2 (Cont)
Analogue of charges in atom

2. Consider the combined sheets to be an

“atom”. Let the red sheet carries positive
charges and the green sheet carries
negative charges in the “atom”.
What can be deduced from step 1?
Inside an atom, there is an equal amountAns
of positive and negative charges. wer
Therefore, an atom is neutral.
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 8)

Activity 2 (Cont)
Analogue of charges in atom

3. Now slowly shift the green sheet to the

right slightly.
(a) What is the relation between the size
of the red colour part on the left and that
of the green colour part on the right?
Ans
Red colour is seen on the left with an wer
equal proportion of the green colour on
the right.
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 9)

Activity 2 (Cont)
Analogue of charges in atom

(b) What can be deduced from (a)? Is the

“atom” charged? Ans
When one side of an atom has more wer
negative charges, the other side should
have an equal amount of positive
charges. The “atom” does not carry net
charge overall and it is neutral.
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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 9)

Activity 2 (Cont)
Analogue of charges in atom

4. Now cut a small piece from the green

sheet. If an “atom” loses negative
charges, what charges does it carry?
Ans
It carries net positive charges. wer

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14.2 Where charges come from? (SB p. 9)

Activity 2 (Cont)
Analogue of charges in atom

5. State any discrepancy between the

plastic sheets model and a real atom.
Ans
In a real atom, the positive chargeswer
are
concentrated at the centre rather than
distributed over the atom. The electrons
carrying negative charges are orbiting
around the positive charges.

Return to

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