Elementary charge

The elementary charge, usually denoted by e, is a fundamental physical constant, defined as the electric charge carried by a single proton or, equivalently, the magnitude of the negative electric charge carried by a single electron, which has charge −1 e.[2][lower-alpha 1]

In the SI system of units, the value of the elementary charge is exactly defined as ${\displaystyle e}$ = 1.602176634×10⁻¹⁹ coulombs, or 160.2176634 zeptocoulombs (zC).[1] Since the 2019 redefinition of SI base units, the seven SI base units are defined by seven fundamental physical constants, of which the elementary charge is one.

In the centimetre–gram–second system of units (CGS), the corresponding quantity is 4.8032047...×10⁻¹⁰ statcoulombs.[lower-alpha 2]

Robert A. Millikan and Harvey Fletcher's oil drop experiment first directly measured the magnitude of the elementary charge in 1909, differing from the modern accepted value by just 0.6%.[3][4] Under assumptions of the then-disputed atomic theory, the elementary charge had also been indirectly inferred to ~3% accuracy from blackbody spectra by Max Planck in 1901[5] and (through the Faraday constant) at order-of-magnitude accuracy by Johann Loschmidt's measurement of the Avogadro number in 1865.