Answer:
[tex]4.56*10^8 \text{ electrons.}[/tex]
Explanation:
Since the fly accumulated a positive charge of +73pC, it must have lost an equal number of negative charge of -73pC to the surface (because the housefly was neutral to begin with).
Therefore, to answer our question we have to ask ourselves how many electrons combine to make -73pC of charge?
The answer is since one electron carries a charge of [tex]-1.6*10^{-19}C[/tex], the number [tex]n[/tex] of electrons that make up -73pC [tex](-73*10^{-12}C)[/tex] are
[tex]n= \dfrac{-73*10^{-12}C}{-1.6*10^{-19}C/e}[/tex]
[tex]\boxed{n= 4.56*10^8e.}[/tex]
Thus, the housefly lost about 456 million electrons to the surface!
