Two identical teflon rods are 10 centimeters long and rubbed with fur so that they each have a total negative charge of 20 microCoulombs that is uniformly distributed along their length. They are arranged along the same axis, with their ends 5 centimeters apart. What is the magnitude of the electrostatic force felt by each rod in Newtons?
assume all the charge is at the center on each rod. F=kQQ/distancefromcenters^2
0,0000016
To calculate the magnitude of the electrostatic force between the two charged rods, we can use Coulomb's Law. Coulomb's Law states that the electrostatic force between two charged objects is directly proportional to the product of their charges and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.
The formula for Coulomb's Law is:
F = k * (|q1| * |q2|) / r^2
where F is the electrostatic force, k is the electrostatic constant, q1 and q2 are the charges of the two objects, and r is the distance between them.
In this case, we have two identical rods with a total negative charge of 20 microCoulombs each. Since the charge is uniformly distributed along their length, we can assume that the charge per unit length is constant. Therefore, the charge (q1 and q2) on each rod can be calculated by dividing the total charge by the length of the rod:
q1 = q2 = (20 microCoulombs) / (0.1 meters) = 200 microCoulombs/m
The distance between the ends of the rods is given as 5 centimeters, which is equivalent to 0.05 meters.
Now we can plug the values into Coulomb's Law:
F = (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (|q1| * |q2|) / r^2
= (8.99 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (200 microCoulombs/m * 200 microCoulombs/m) / (0.05 meters)^2
Calculating this expression will give us the magnitude of the electrostatic force felt by each rod in Newtons.