What exactly is an electric charge?

Question

I know that a body is negatively charged if it has extra electrons, but what makes the electrons negatively charged in the first place. What is the diffeence between a positive and a negative charge anyway?

Answer 1

positive charge is - excess of protons and negative charge is excess of electrons.The charge is static electricity at rest.When the charge moves, usually in a conductor(copper wire), the current indicates the intensity of the electricity in motion.To be exact electric charge is defined in the practical unit called a Coulomb.Coulomb is equal to the charge of 6.25 x 10 to the 18th power electrons or protons stored in a dielectric.The analysis of static charges and their forces is called electrostatics.The difference between positive and negative is best described as the difference between a electron and a proton.Electrons are very much smaller than protons and have the negative charge.Protons are much heavier and massive and exist in the nucleus of an atom. smaller units called quarks make up the protons charge.Quarks have fractional charges that equal the whole charge of the protons .The difference between protons and electrons are the attractive magnetic force they exert on each other.

Answer 2

Everyone knows what an electric charge is, but when it comes to the question, "what makes positive and negative charges differ," nobody seems able to spit a word about it.

As far as i know, every "thing" in the universe has its perfect mirror, ie the exact opposite. But what really makes +ve and -ve charges differ? To solve that very question, scientists had to search and study the root of electric charges, electrons and protons. After doing lots of researches trying to solve that puzzling question, they been able to device a machine that would make them able to actually "see" how electrons (and protons) behaved, and they called that machine the Bubble Chamber, using the bubble chamber, you were able see the trails of electrons and protons as they were rotating and spinning perfectly in two opposite directions which they called intrinsic angular motions. Electrons rotate in an anti-clockwise direction while protons rotate clockwise, and that's the very reason why these two charges differ in nature.

But the science of Nuclear Physics is much much informative regarding that subject.

Hope that helped.
Best Regards

Answer 3

The atom has some electrons rubbed off it is positively charged, the free electrons sometimes is created by heating an atom,when they are like that they are attracted to the north pole of a magnet and when they are coming off the sun at tremendous speeds they are beta particles. the atom body that is missing electrons is positive charged and when they come off the sun they are alpha particles and are attracted to the south pole. when this stream of particles coming off the sun toward earth they are pulled toward the poles and this is what blows the hole in our ozone layer.

Answer 4

No one knows.... they are saying that electrons and protons emit and absorb virutal photons. That is what charge is, a charged particle emits/absorbs virtual photons.