Equal Ion Electron Charges Cancel - Plasma Physics: Debye Shielding, Gyromotion, and Collective Oscillations Step by Step

Neutral plasma is a checked charge ledger. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

Equal ion and electron counts cancel charge

There are 4 ions of charge 1 coulomb and 4 electrons of charge -1 coulomb.

4(1)+4(-1)=0\ \text{C}

Zero net charge is a ledger result

The checked net charge is 0 coulomb, so neutral means balanced charges, not absent charges.

Q_{\text{net}}=0\ \text{C}