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Physics Lesson 14.1.1 - Structure of Atom. Electric Charges
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Welcome to our Physics lesson on Structure of Atom. Electric Charges, this is the first lesson of our suite of physics lessons covering the topic of Electric Charges. Conductors and Insulators, you can find links to the other lessons within this tutorial and access additional physics learning resources below this lesson.
Structure of Atom. Electric Charges
Atoms, as building blocks of matter are composed by three main particles:
- Protons (p) and neutrons (n), located inside a hard structure called "nucleus", and
- Electrons (e), which are smaller in dimensions that protons and neutrons. Electrons revolve around the nucleus just like the planets orbiting the Sun.
A simplified structure of atom is shown in the figure below.
Protons and electrons are able to interact with other particles. They can attract or repel particles near them. Therefore, protons and electrons are known as electric charges as they carry electricity when moving, due to the interaction with other charges. However, electric charges behave differently depending on the type of charge they interact. They obey to the following rule:
Like charges repel each other while unlike charges attract each other.
The above rule is explained more clearly in the table below:
To make distinction between protons and electrons, scientists have classified them into positive and negative. Thus, protons are known as positive charges while electrons as negative ones.
Neutrons do not carry any electric charge, as they do not interact with other particles. Therefore, they are neither positive nor negative but rather, neutral (as their name implies).
You have reached the end of Physics lesson 14.1.1 Structure of Atom. Electric Charges. There are 8 lessons in this physics tutorial covering Electric Charges. Conductors and Insulators, you can access all the lessons from this tutorial below.
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- Check your calculations for Electrostatics questions with our excellent Electrostatics calculators which contain full equations and calculations clearly displayed line by line. See the Electrostatics Calculators by iCalculator™ below.
- Continuing learning electrostatics - read our next physics tutorial: Coulomb's Law
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