In a thundercloud there are two equal and opposite charges ±35C separated by 6km. Assuming that they can be treated as point charges, what is the magnitude of the electric force between them?
what's the trouble? Just plug into the formula:
F = keq1q2/r^2
To find the magnitude of the electric force between the two charges, we can use Coulomb's Law. Coulomb's Law states that the magnitude of the electric force between two point charges is directly proportional to the product of the 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 magnitude of the electric force
k is the electrostatic constant (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2)
|q1| and |q2| are the magnitudes of the charges
r is the distance between the charges
Given:
|q1| = 35C
|q2| = 35C
r = 6km = 6000m
Plugging in the values into the formula, we get:
F = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2 * 35C * 35C) / (6000m)^2
To calculate this, let me bring up my calculator... Give me a moment, please.