the charges 1C and 5C are separated by a distance 20cm.what will be the ratio of electrostatic force acting on them?
Now if you mean on each due to an external E field, THEN 5/1
k Q E
Due to each other? 1 to 1 or 1 to -1 accounting for opposite directions.. Newton's third law. k Q1 Q2 / d^2 = k Q2 Q1 / d^2 :)
To determine the ratio of the electrostatic force acting on two charges, we can use Coulomb's Law. Coulomb's Law states that the electrostatic force between two 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 electrostatic force,
k is the electrostatic constant (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2),
q1 and q2 are the magnitudes of the charges, and
r is the distance between the charges.
In this case, q1 is 1C, q2 is 5C, and r is 20cm (or 0.2m) since the given distance is in centimeters.
So, the electrostatic force (F1) between the charges 1C and 5C can be calculated as:
F1 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (1C * 5C) / (0.2m)^2
Simplifying the equation:
F1 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (5C) / (0.04m^2)
F1 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C) * (5) / (0.04m)
Now, let's consider the ratio of the electrostatic forces. We'll call the ratio R.
R = F1 / F2
To find the force on the second charge (F2), we substitute q1 = 5C and q2 = 1C into Coulomb's Law:
F2 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (5C * 1C) / (0.2m)^2
F2 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C^2) * (5C) / (0.04m^2)
F2 = (9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C) * (5) / (0.04m)
Now, substitute the values into the ratio equation:
R = [(9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C) * (5) / (0.04m)] / [(9 x 10^9 Nm^2/C) * (5) / (0.04m)]
R = 1
Therefore, the ratio of the electrostatic force acting on the charges 1C and 5C is 1.