Key Stage 5
Meaning
The law of conservation of charge states that charge cannot be created or destroyed, it can only be transferred from one particle to another.
About Conservation of Charge
- The overall charge of the Universe is zero.
- If a charged particle comes into existence another particle with opposite charge must also come into existence.
- Conservation of charge can be applied to fundamental interactions to balance the equations and to ascertain the types of particles produced.
Examples
\(p+\bar\nu_e\rightarrow n + \beta^+\)
\(n+\nu_e\rightarrow p + \beta^-\)
\(p+\bar\nu_{\mu}\rightarrow n + \mu^+\)
\(n+\nu_{\mu}\rightarrow p + \mu^-\)
\(p\rightarrow n + \beta^+ + \nu_e\)
\(n\rightarrow p + \beta-+ + \bar\nu_e\)