Can a body have a charge of $0.8 × 10^{-19}\:\rm C$? Why or Why not?
Please answer. Justify why and why not.
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2 Answers
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Such particles have not been observed and also are not part of the standard model. Quarks are theorised to have fractional charge and also quasiparticles have been observed with partial charge. None of these have e/2 and it is debatable if any of these qualify as particle. See https://physicsworld.com/a/fractional-charge-carriers-discovered/.
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1$\begingroup$ This does not provide an answer to the question. To critique or request clarification from an author, leave a comment below their post. - From Review $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 14:55
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$\begingroup$ @GiorgioP It does answer the question. $\endgroup$– my2ctsCommented Feb 23, 2019 at 16:32
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$\begingroup$ I agree with your statement: there is no particle in the standard model having a charge of $e/2$. However, you can understand the question also in a different way. For example: if you apply a tiny voltage between two capacitor plates, can one of the plates have a net charge of $e/2$? Here we talk about average charge, and the answer is a clear yes. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 16:49
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1$\begingroup$ I do not know objects qualified as 'body" in the SM. Moreover there is much more physics out there than in the SM. Fractional electronic charges have been measured in quasi-particles in condensed matter. Therefore, writing that in a particular area of physics they have not been observed does not answer the question if a body may have a charge $e/2$. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 17:46
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$\begingroup$ @GiorgioP If you have a different or more complete answer, then you should post it. $\endgroup$– my2ctsCommented Feb 23, 2019 at 19:00
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I think the answer depends on what you call a ‘body’. If the body is completely decoupled from the rest of the world, it cannot have a fraction of the elementary charge.
If the body is an object coupled to something else, this may happen. Consider, for example, a H$_2^+$ molecule, i.e., a positively charged hydrogen molecule. It has one electron of charge $-e$ and two protons of charge $+e$, its total charge being $+e$. The electron is equally shared between the two proton nuclei in the quantum mechanical ground state. If we consider one of the two hydrogens to be the ‘object’ of interest, then it has a net charge of ‘+e/2’.
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$\begingroup$ Are you sure? Can you be more specific with your criticism? $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 16:45
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1$\begingroup$ This is physics. Look up: chemistry partial charge. $\endgroup$ Commented Feb 23, 2019 at 20:39
\rm. $\endgroup$\rm, it's easy - titles are sometimes displayed in environments without MathJax, so the minimally-intrusive choice wins out. $\endgroup$-19}$ Cis even less intrusive and can be displayed nicely in mathjax-free environments (and would match the text fonts as well!) $\endgroup$