23.1. Electric Charge http://www.ck12.org
Electric Charge and Electric Force
Electric chargeis a physical property of particles or objects that causes them to attract or repel each other without
touching. All electric charge is based on the protons and electrons in atoms. A proton has a positive electric charge,
and an electron has a negative electric charge (seeFigure23.2).
FIGURE 23.2
Positively charged protons (+) are located
in the nucleus of an atom. Negatively
charged electrons (-) move around the
nucleus.When it comes to electric charges, opposites attract. In other words, positive and negative particles are attracted to
each other. Like charges, on the other hand, repel each other, so two positive or two negative charges push apart from
each other. The force of attraction or repulsion between charged particles is calledelectric force. It is illustrated in
Figure23.3. The strength of electric force depends on the amount of electric charge and the distance between the
charged particles. The larger the charge or the closer together the charges are, the greater is the electric force.
FIGURE 23.3
These diagrams illustrate the electric forces between charged particles.