Friday, 24 January 2020

Why is charge = nALe


Sorry if this question is a bit broad but I can't find any info on this by just searching.


The equation q = neAL where L is the length of a conductor, A is the area of cross section, n is the number of charges and e is the fundamental charge. This equation clearly does not make sense from a dimensional point of view at first glance. So why is it true and why is it assumed true in most derivations for charge density in terms of drift velocity?



Answer



$n$ is the particle density: Number of particles per cubic meter in SI units. $e$ would be the charge on a particle (Coulombs), here equal to the elementary charge (they could be protons). With that I think that you will see the the dimensions are correct.


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