What is the total charge of one coulomb equal to in terms of electrons?

To understand why one coulomb is equal to approximately 6.25 x 10^18 electrons, it's important to first grasp the relationship between coulombs and the elementary charge of an electron. The elementary charge, which is the charge of a single electron, is approximately 1.6 x 10^-19 coulombs.

To find out how many electrons make up one coulomb, you can divide one coulomb by the charge of one electron. Here’s the calculation:

1 C (coulomb) = 1 / (1.6 x 10^-19 C/electron) = 6.25 x 10^18 electrons.

This means that one coulomb of charge corresponds to approximately 6.25 quintillion electrons. This connection between the unit of electric charge (coulombs) and the fundamental charge of an electron is crucial for understanding electric phenomena at the microscopic level.

The other options present values that do not accurately represent the number of electrons in a coulomb when calculated using the charge of an electron, demonstrating that they fall short of the correct interpretation of this fundamental relationship in electrostatics.