Introduction to electromagnetism is a quantity used to determine how a particle will behave in an electric field. There are three possible "types" of charge: positive, negative, and neutral. However, the distinction between positive and negative is by convention only. Electric charge is quantized in units of the elementary charge, formula_1, where a proton has a charge of formula_2 and an electron has a charge of formula_3. The SI unit of charge is the coulomb. The elementary charge formula_1 was first measured by Robert Millikan in his oil drop experiment in which the electric force on the particle is set to exactly counter
Particle-beam weapon Particle-beam weapon A particle-beam weapon uses a high-energy beam of atomic or subatomic particles to damage the target by disrupting its atomic and/or molecular structure. A particle-beam weapon is a type of directed-energy weapon, which directs energy in a particular and focused direction using particles with miniscule mass. Some particle-beam weapons have potential practical applications, e.g. as an antiballistic missile defense system for the United States and its cancelled Strategic Defense Initiative. The vast majority, however, are science fiction and are among the most common weapon types of the genre. They have been known by myriad names: phasers, particle accelerator