If the protons and electrons are the only basic charges in the universe, all the observable charges have to be integral multiples of e. Thus, if an object contains x electrons and y protons, the net charge on the object will be
-(x + y) e
(x + y) e
(x- y) e
(y- x) e
(y- x) e
The correct option is (y- x) e.
To understand why this is correct, we can look at the fundamental electrical charges of protons and electrons:
1. An electron carries a negative elementary charge, which is represented as:
2. A proton carries a positive elementary charge, which is represented as:
If an object contains
electrons, the total negative charge contributed by these electrons is:
Similarly, if the object contains
protons, the total positive charge contributed by these protons is:
The net charge on the object is the algebraic sum of the total positive charges and the total negative charges:
Substituting the expressions, we get:
By factoring out the common elementary charge term
we obtain the final simplified expression:
This matches the correct option.