: do electric charges have mass?

306 views

if we say voltage is work done on a single charge to move it across a circuit, and work is the force applies on a body of a certain mass to move it across a distance, are electric charges in a circuit bodies of mass?

In: 2

6 Answers

Anonymous 0 Comments

In metals, it’s the electrons that move.

In plasma, it’s ions that move.

In something like a water solution with ions in it (for example a salt solution), it’s the ions that move.

So in most cases, the particles that have the charge, also have mass. Mass and charge are fundamental properties of particles, and they are “independent” of each other.

For your specific question, though, the definition of “work” is [the displacement of energy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_(physics)), and while it may make sense to express it in terms of force and distance for kinetic energy situations where you have objects moving inertially or within a uniform gravity field, for electricity it makes more sense to [express work in terms of the voltage](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Work_(electric_field)).

So it’s probably better to think of work as “transfer of energy” and then look for a formula based on what energy you’re talking about, whether it be heat, pressure, electricity, gravity / kinetic, nuclear, and so on.

You are viewing 1 out of 6 answers, click here to view all answers.