One Electron Missing Leaves Positive Charge - Plasma Physics: Debye Shielding, Gyromotion, and Collective Oscillations Step by Step

A count imbalance fixes the sign of the net charge. Exact arithmetic here means exact results for the stated model inputs; measured inputs still carry uncertainty and significant-figure limits.

highlighted = computed this step

One missing electron leaves positive charge

The ion count stays 4, but the electron count drops to 3.

4(1)+3(-1)=1\ \text{C}

The sign tells which charge is in excess

The net charge is positive 1 coulomb because ion charge exceeds electron charge.

Q_{\text{net}}=+1\ \text{C}