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I was studying about x ray crystallography and my book says that charge density is measured in electrons per nano-meter cubed and this means that charge is the amount of electrons. But i am not sure if this definition (charge density = the number of electrons in a unit volume) applies when we are studying crystallography only. So to make sure, is charge simply the amount of electrons ?

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  • $\begingroup$ The electron has a charge measure in coulombs of $\approx 1.602\cdot 10^{-19}$ C. In a given volume v ($\pu{m^{3}}$) the charge density for n electrons is $ne/\mathrm{v}$ with unit $\pu{C m^{-3}}$ $\endgroup$ – porphyrin Feb 9 '17 at 16:04
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An electron has a charge (lets say $e [C]$). If you have a certain amount of electrons in a certain volume ($V [m^3]$), you have a certain charge per volume $\rho = e/V [\frac{C}{m^3}]$. Which is a density.

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  • $\begingroup$ The charge of the electron is measure in Coulombs not volts. $\endgroup$ – porphyrin Feb 11 '17 at 11:04
  • $\begingroup$ @porphyrin The units don't matter to make my point, but I'll change it $\endgroup$ – Fl.pf. Feb 13 '17 at 5:57

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