A positively charged particle is fixed in place, unable to move. Another positively charged particle is brought near and released.
(a) Which way does it move?
(b) What happens to the force, acceleration, and velocity on the moving particle as it moves?
(c) What happens to the charges’ electric potential as it moves?
(a) When the positively charged particle is released near the fixed positively charged particle, it will experience a repulsive force due to the like charges. According to Coulomb's law, like charges repel each other. Therefore, the moving particle will move away from the fixed particle.
(b) As the moving particle moves away from the fixed particle, several things happen.
Force: The force between the two particles will decrease as the distance between them increases. According to Coulomb's law, the force between charged particles is inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. So, as the particles move farther apart, the force between them decreases.
Acceleration: The acceleration of the moving particle will decrease as well. The acceleration is directly proportional to the force acting on an object, and since the force is decreasing, the acceleration will also decrease. However, the moving particle will still accelerate due to the repulsive force until it reaches a point of equilibrium where the forces acting on it are balanced.
Velocity: Initially, the moving particle will experience an increase in velocity as it accelerates away from the fixed particle. However, as the distance between the particles increases and the force decreases, the acceleration decreases, eventually reaching zero. At this point, the moving particle will be at a constant velocity.
(c) The charges' electric potential remains constant as the moving particle moves away from the fixed particle. Electric potential is a scalar quantity that depends only on the charges and their positions, not on their motion. Therefore, as the charges move relative to each other, the electric potential does not change.