Question

Identify incorrect for electric charge q.
A. quantized
B. conserved
C. additive
D. non-transferable

Answer 1

Recall all the known basic properties of an electric charge. Cross check those properties with the given options in the question. Also, give a brief description of the correct properties among the given ones. And thus determine which of these properties doesn’t define an electric charge and also, give a brief justification.

Complete answer:
Out of the four properties, we are asked to identify the one that is not the property of electric charge q. Let us discuss each property one by one.
Firstly let us see whether electric charge is quantized. It is experimentally proved that all free charges are integral multiples of a basic unit of charge given by e, that is, charge q on a body can be given by,
$q=ne$
Where n is an integer. The basic unit of charge e is the charge carried by an electron or a proton.
Therefore, we see that charge is quantized.
Now let us see whether charge is conserved. Conservation of charge is an experimentally established property. For an isolated system consisting of many charged bodies, charges may get redistributed as the result of interaction. However, the total charge of an isolated system is always conserved.
Let us now see whether the electric charge is additive. If a system consists of n charges ${{q}_{1}},{{q}_{2}},{{q}_{3}},...,{{q}_{n}}$ then, the total charge of the system is given by their algebraic sum
$Q={{q}_{1}}+{{q}_{2}}+{{q}_{3}}+...+{{q}_{n}}$
But we know that charges can be positive and negative and hence, we have to assign proper signs to the charges before doing their sum. So, electric charges have additive properties.
But, is electric charge non transferable? Absolutely not, electric charges are transferable. We have seen that while rubbing two bodies electrons are being transferred from one body to another and also many other examples. So, electric charges are transferable.

So, the correct answer is “Option D”.

Note:
At the macroscopic level, quantization of charge has no practical consequence and hence can be ignored. However, at the microscopic level, quantization is quite significant. The value of basic unit of charge is given by,
$e=1.6\times {{10}^{-19}}C$