Answer:
Among the choices, only choice b. approximately [tex]4.80 \times 10^{-19}\; {\rm C}[/tex] is possible.
Explanation:
The elementary charge [tex]e \approx 1.602 \times 10^{-19}\; {\rm C}[/tex] is the magnitude of charge on one electron or one proton.
Electrons are negatively charged; each electron carries a charge of [tex](-e)[/tex]. In contrast, protons are positively charged with a charge of [tex](+e)[/tex] each.
When an object contains an equal number of protons and electrons, the positive and negative charges will be balanced, and there will be no excess electric charge.
However, if the number of protons and electrons differ within an object, there will be an excess electric charge. Specifically:
Note that in either case, excess electric charge on an ordinary object has to be an integer multiple of the elementary charge [tex]e \approx 1.602 \times 10^{-19}\; {\rm C}[/tex]. Among the choices, only b. [tex]4.80 \times 10^{-19}\; {\rm C} \approx 3 \times (1.602 \times 10^{-19}\; {\rm C})[/tex] meets this requirement.
