Question

(a) Explain the meaning of the statement ‘electric charge of a bodyis quantised’. (b) Why can one ignore quantisation of electric charge when dealingwith macroscopic i.e., large scale charges?

Answer 1

(a)

The phrase “electric charge of a body is quantized” means that any charged body can have a charge which is an integral multiple of the charge of an electron or proton. A charged body cannot possess a charge which is a fraction of electronic charge like ( 1 2 e,  3 2 e⋯ ).

(b)

In the macroscopic level, the number of charge is very large in comparison to the magnitude of the electronic charge. So at the macroscopic level, it is assumed that the charge in the body is continuous that is why the quantization of electric charge is ignored.