Electric charge is a fundamental conserved property of some subatomic particles, which determines their electromagnetic interaction. Electrically charged matter is influenced by, and produces, electromagnetic fields. The interaction between a moving charge and an electromagnetic field is the source of the electromagnetic force, which is one of the four fundamental forces.

Electric charge is a characteristic of some subatomic particles. It is quantized: when expressed in units of the so-called elementary charge e, it takes integer or fractional values. Electrons by convention have a charge of −1, while protons have the opposite charge of +1.

Quarks have a fractional charge of −1⁄3 or +2⁄3. The antiparticle equivalents of these, positrons, antiprotons and antiquarks, respectively, have the opposite charge. There are other charged particles, as well.

The discrete nature of electric charge was proposed by Michael Faraday in his electrolysis experiments, and then directly demonstrated by Robert Millikan in his oil-drop experiment. In general, same-sign charged particles repel one another, while different-sign charged particles attract. This is expressed quantitatively in Coulomb's law, which states that the magnitude of the electrostatic repelling force between two particles is proportional to the product of their charges and the inverse square of the distance between them.

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