elementary charge

The **elementary charge** is the fundamental unit of electric charge in physics, symbolized by **e**. It represents the magnitude of the charge carried by a single proton or the negative of that carried by an electron, approximately equal to (1.602 times 10^{-19}) coulombs. This constant plays a crucial role in the study of electromagnetism, quantum mechanics, and various fields of science and engineering, serving as a building block for understanding atomic and subatomic particles.