What do we mean by this the charge on a body is denoted by $q$?

Question

I am sorry if this is a silly question, we know that electric charge is a characteristic property of a subatomic particle. And, a body is electrically charged by the transfer of electrons.
Then, what does it mean by "the charge on a body is denoted by $q$"? What are we talking about here? Are we denoting this property by $q$? Also, what does it mean when we say a body has charge $+2text{ C}$? What does $+2text{ C}$ have to do with the property electric charge?

anna v · Answer

Charge was measured on macroscopic bodies a long time before the discovery  of subatomic particles, and the unit of measurement is the Coulomb

The coulomb (symbol: C) is the International System of Units (SI) unit of electric charge. Under the 2019 redefinition of the SI base units, which took effect on 20 May 2019, the coulomb is exactly $1/(1.602176634×10^{−19})$ elementary charges. The same number of electrons has the same magnitude but opposite sign of charge, that is, a charge of −1 C.

italics mine

What do we mean by this the charge on a body is denoted by $q$?

One Answer

Add your own answers!

Ask a Question