Why are the charges of the proton and electron equal but opposite in size?

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Discussion Overview

The discussion revolves around the question of why the charges of the proton and electron are equal in magnitude but opposite in sign. Participants explore theoretical, mathematical, and conceptual aspects of this relationship, including the role of quarks in protons and the nature of fundamental particles.

Discussion Character

  • Exploratory
  • Technical explanation
  • Conceptual clarification
  • Debate/contested

Main Points Raised

  • Some participants note that the charge of the electron is -1.60217733 x 10-19 C, which is equal in size but opposite in sign to the charge of the proton, yet no definitive explanation exists for this relationship.
  • Others argue that there is no underlying reason for the existence of fundamental properties; they simply are, suggesting that future understanding may evolve.
  • Some participants inquire about the contribution of quarks to the overall charge of the proton, specifically questioning how the charges of the two up quarks and one down quark combine to yield the proton's charge.
  • A participant proposes that the charges of quarks could imply a composition of the electron, suggesting that an up quark is 2/3 of an electron and a down quark is 1/3, raising questions about the fundamental nature of electrons.
  • Another participant counters the idea of electrons being composed of smaller objects, asserting that electrons are generally considered fundamental particles.
  • One participant mentions that the apparent coincidence between the charges of quarks and electrons lacks a clear explanation within the Standard Model, but suggests that Grand Unified Theories (GUT) may provide insights through imposed symmetries.

Areas of Agreement / Disagreement

Participants express a range of views, with no consensus on the underlying reasons for the equal but opposite charges of protons and electrons. The discussion includes competing hypotheses and unresolved questions about the nature of fundamental particles.

Contextual Notes

Some limitations include the dependence on definitions of fundamental properties and unresolved mathematical steps regarding the contributions of quarks to the proton's charge.

kye
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Why (or what mathematical reason) is the charge of the electron being -1.60217733 x 10-19 C equal to the charge of the proton but opposite in size? Proton are composed of quarks and electrons don't have anything to do with quarks.
 
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That's what we see in nature,experimentally, and there is no explanation for it yet,at least non that is proved!
 
There is no underlying reason why fundamental properties exist. They just do. Perhaps our understanding will change in the future.
 
There are 3 quarks in a proton. What is the value of each quark such that the composite proton has the value 1.60217733 x 10-19 C? Or how does each of the 3 quarks contribute to this value?
 
kye said:
There are 3 quarks in a proton. What is the value of each quark such that the composite proton has the value 1.60217733 x 10-19 C? Or how does each of the 3 quarks contribute to this value?

A proton has 2 up quarks and 1 down quark.Up quarks have electric charge equal to +\frac{2}{3}e and down quarks have electric charge equal to -\frac{1}{3}e where e is the charge on a proton.
 
Shyan said:
A proton has 2 up quarks and 1 down quark.Up quarks have electric charge equal to +\frac{2}{3}e and down quarks have electric charge equal to -\frac{1}{3}e where e is the charge on a proton.

It sounds like an up quark is composed of 2/3 of electron and down quark is composed of 1/3 of electron. Won't it sounds like an electron is composed of 3 units. I know we treat it as a point object. But the Landau problem says an electron can't be a point because its electric charge at infinite center would repel each other. So there is still hope an electron can be even composed of smaller objects bound together to form an electron?
 
kye said:
It sounds like an up quark is composed of 2/3 of electron and down quark is composed of 1/3 of electron. Won't it sounds like an electron is composed of 3 units. I know we treat it as a point object. But the Landau problem says an electron can't be a point because its electric charge at infinite center would repel each other. So there is still hope an electron can be even composed of smaller objects bound together to form an electron?

Not much hope, no. Electrons are thought to be fundamental particles.
 
There is no explanation for that apparent "coincidence" between the charges of the quarks and the electron within the Standard model (except for the highly technical requirement of triangular anomaly canceleation requirements in order to preserve renormalizability). But with GUT theories that "coincidence" is actually a consequence of the symmetries imposed on the theory by the GUT gauge interaction.
 

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