How does changing the charge’s value influence the force between the two charges?

As the value of charge 1 __________, the value of the force ___________.

a
decreases; decreases
b
increases; decreases
c
increases; does not change
d
decreases; does not change

b) increases; decreases

To understand how changing the charge's value influences the force between two charges, we can refer to Coulomb's Law. Coulomb's Law states that the force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of their magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them.

Mathematically, the formula for Coulomb's Law is given as:

F = k * (|q1| * |q2|) / r^2,

where F is the force between the charges, k is the electrostatic constant, |q1| and |q2| are the magnitudes of the charges, and r is the distance between the charges.

Based on this formula, let's examine the possible options:

a) If the value of charge 1 decreases, according to Coulomb's Law, the force between the charges would also decrease. Therefore, this option is correct.

b) If the value of charge 1 increases, according to Coulomb's Law, the force between the charges would actually increase. Therefore, this option is incorrect.

c) If the value of charge 1 increases, the force between the charges would also increase, contradicting this option.

d) If the value of charge 1 decreases, the force between the charges would also decrease, contradicting this option.

Therefore, the correct answer is option a) decreases; decreases.

The correct answer is:

b. increases; decreases

As the value of charge 1 increases, the value of the force between the two charges decreases. This relationship is described by Coulomb's Law, which states that the force between two charges is directly proportional to the product of their magnitudes and inversely proportional to the square of the distance between them. Therefore, as charge 1 increases, the force between the charges increases, but it decreases as the distance between them increases.